Monday, February 11, 2008

Effectively Nudged.

Okay. So. Um.



The other day my sister told me I needed to update my blog because my last post was just not 'me;' in short, it was overdramatic, it was depressing, it was eeyore. Things have not been good. I do not have time or energy to give an update quite yet, but since Mr. Lady tagged me for a meme that will talk, however obliquely, about how I blog and what I struggle in attempting to write this blog, it's kind of a perfect seque. I'll try to keep out the overdrama and the depress-ment.



How long have you been blogging?

Just under 2.5 years.



What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?



My friend Matt emailed me during the summer of '05 that he was starting a blog about food and wine, which is his thing. This would be my first visit to blogger-based blogs. I didn't read a bunch of them, or even think about writing, until the end of that summer and the shit started to hit the fan with The Kid. His preschool staff said he was too energetic and too hyperactive to fit into preschool anymore, just two weeks before Kindergarten was set to start. I knew I had a battle, I knew my brilliant child was a square peg, and Kindergarten was going to be a circle hole, and I just wanted to diarize it. And so Soapy Water started, during that two week period where I took a lot of time off of work, for the first of many times I found myself without childcare. While my views on what's going on with him have changed STARKLY since this blog began, I'm happy to have the blog to look back on, a document to my work on his behalf. Me (and my family) have been the only consistent thing to stand by The Kid these two and a half years of his very rocky education, and while my conclusions have evolved, the way I approach problems (critically, with much ire), has not changed.


I sent an email sending out the link of my brand spanking new blog to my bff and a few other friends. She wrote me back that she, uh, had been writing one herself for about six months. Here's the link. Go check it out. So, she didn't make me want to have a blog, as I didn't know hers existed until after mine did, but she made me want to write for her. She's the best, yo.



Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?



Is what I do fun? I think this is the problem lately. I do not make a dime off of this blog. No ads. No point. No traffic.



What 3 things do you love about being online?



1. I have connected with people that I know well, better.
2. I have connected with people that I don't know at all but are similar to me, or have perspectives I wouldn't have known about or considered prior to the blogging.
3. Primal scream. I've written some really angry posts in my day. I've also written thought processes out so that I can sleep at night.



What 3 things do you struggle with online?

1. Actually writing the blog. When life speeds up, and I have more to write about, I tend to post less.
2. Overdocumentation. I know that I am the only person who is actually interested in the ins and outs of everything I think about. In general. In relation to The Kid and The Kid's education, I think I tend to go overboard with details of his school issues, to the point that no one will read this but a person who loves me very much and wants to read our updates, and/or someone who is searching for answers to the same questions I'm asking, or teachers. I think. No one else wants to read about a mentally ill kid. Rarely do people even want to even acknowledge they exist.
3. This is not a fun blog. I used to write about funny stuff, about how The Kid's challenges were beautiful and entertaining somehow. But lately, not so much. Life is heavy, and so are my posts. I want to lighten things up, but I think so seriously, and this subject is so very serious, that the posts end up sad, troubling, troubled.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi. I heart you even though we never talk these days.
I used to read your blog a lot in the beginning and then somehow I lost track of it. I picked it up in my reader again last week and did a little catching up.
I started a regular blog myself just a month ago (well, I transitioned from MySpace anyway). When I started it I decided it would be truthful, even when the truth isn't funny or poetic. Like you, it's harder for me to blog when life speeds up or is difficult in ways that are hard to articulate.
Wanted you to know that I'm reading again and I do want to know how things are going with the kid. BTW, I was looking thru your flickr and he is beautiful and has sparkle in his eyes. Wish I could know him better. I know you'll find answers to his education, it won't always be this hard.
Hang in there and keep writing! :)

Zombyboy said...

Hope you're doing okay. If you ever need a friendly ear, I'm happy to listen.

Mr Lady said...

You are so not aware that you write the very best blog out there, are you?

It really is. And dude, you SO don't overdocument. What you do document needs to be.

Kisses.

Em said...

You think you write depressing stuff..too much stuff...about things only you care about. Not true. I love reading your blog. Yeah, we have a similar kid and I feel that connection. And your blog lets me know I'm not alone. Lets me know I'm not crazy. Lets me appreciate my kid more. And I often can't get that anywhere else. Your blog is valuable.

Peggy said...

Molls - my nudge wasn't about keeping "depress-ment" out of your blog, sweetie. Life is tough right now. And you are good, no masterful, at facing the toughness. I think you'd be surprised at how many people care DEEPLY about you and The Kid and your struggles and victories.
I love your blog. But I love you more.

Leslie Dillinger said...

My Dear--I love you and your blog more than you will ever know. You're so brilliant, and I always hang on your every word. You write about the difficult things with such elegance and wit and strength. That is why we all keep coming back, no matter what. Stay strong, homie. All my LURV to you and The Kid.

Diane said...

Your dealing with a difficult situation and it's incredibly important. This is your lives.

I keep coming back because your posts are real, moving and despite us never meeting--I feel a connection to your struggles though ours are quite different with Harley.

I'm just glad that you have your blog and your connecting with others. Having a place to vent must help. Hang in there, I'll be thinking good thoughts for you and The Kid.

Jaci S said...

dude, i am here for you. it's okay to be sad sometimes. i send my love to you and the kid. and your mom.(but not your cousin)