I have a friend -- a former teaching colleague who teaches high school English and inspired me with her example of starting a blog.
I enjoyed reading her comments, but unfortunately, it has dwindled to where she wrote only once in 2010 and so far, only once in 2011.
Below is her comments from the sole 2010 musings -- along with my response(s). Hopefully, she will write additional essays in 2011.
Linne's blog:
Maybe this describes you too. I am a "someday" writer with lots of ideas but no stamina for actual production. Oh, I know I have lots of excuses. Today I graded College Prep English "How to..." papers that were supposed to include cultural revelations, 7th & 8th grade Reading papers from Sign of the Beaver using constructed response, and Leadership papers on ideas for giving speeches to 6th graders....it was a looooong afternoon. Sigh. Oh, and I wrote a VIP letter of recommendation for college application. So, yeah, I am busy, but I am always busy, so I think I have to rename busy and just call it not so interested in writing. In my head I am going to be a published writer someday, but in reality I'm not working very hard to get there. Somehow, that doesn't bum me out nearly as much as it should. I'm content with someday. It is kind of like the thought of a lovely dessert at the end of a great meal. I'm just working through it.....
posted by Linne at 1:42 AM on Dec 11, 2010
My responses:
Response 1:
Kim said...
I started to express my hope that you would get your just dessert, but then realized that that sounded more like a threat.
Actually, I was glad to see that you had started writing again, even though you can see by the date of my response that I didn't catch on for quite a while.
Linne, your words are interesting and entertaining, and you have a fascinating and descriptive self-awareness, albeit in a somewhat sporadic and haphazard manner.
Truthfully, I don't find your writing boring, and I do find it worth reading.
Here's to hoping you'll write more, whether you get your just dessert or not.
Kim
July 8, 2011 10:29 AM
Response 2:
Kim said...
It occurs to me that perhaps an even more neglected area than blogs are the comments to blogs.
I am guessing that there probably won't be too many other responses, and that in fact, I will probably be the only one to respond.
Hopefully, that won't be the case.
Kim
July 8, 2011 10:31 AM
Response 3:
Kim said...
I think I have found a way to insure that there will be more than one response to your blog in the hopes of having some sort of discussion as a result of your writing -- and typical of being a teacher, if you want something done, you usually need to be the one to do it yourself.
Soooooooooo, all right, I will be the one to do it.
Sooooooooo, yes, I agree with Kim that Linne should write more and that her unique style is entertaining and thought provoking.
However, I am not sure that I agree that Linne is haphazard and sporadic in herr style, but as she says, she is often busy.
Kim 2
July 8, 2011 10:33 AM
Response 4:
Kim said...
Whoa, wait a minute, I think I have to step in and say that I tend to agree with Kim 1 more than with Kim 2 in terms of Linne being busy.
As she herself says, one can always have things to do and find reasons not to write. If she truly aspires to be a published author, somehow she is going to have to find or make the time to write.
Just my thoughts,
Kim 3
July 8, 2011 10:35 AM
Response 5:
Kim said...
Well, I was not trying to be critical of Linne when I referred to her writing as haphazard and sporadic, but rather was suggesting that that is part of the freshness of her words -- that they are not tied down to being thorough, but that there is a freshness of speaking in the present.
I suspect that even she would agree that her writing is to some degree "of the moment" and that if she were to try to write about the same thing a day later, that her blog might well have diverted into some completely other direction and arrival point.
I did not intend for my comment to be seen as negative.
Kim 1
July 8, 2011 10:38 AM
Response 6:
Kim said...
Kim 1,
Well, yes, I see your point, but also, I think you can see that without your further explanation, how it looked like your comments sounded critical of my friend Linne, and naturally, I felt the need to come to her defense.
Kim 2
July 8, 2011 10:39 AM
Response 7:
Kim said...
Kim 2,
I understand and I find it admirable, that you wanted to defend your friend.
But having known Linne for some time, I have to say that I have great confidence in her strengths and abilities to stand up for herself, and I don't really think she needs someone to come running to her defense.
In fact, I am hopefully and somewhat confident, that she saw my comments in the manner they were intended without even having to read my futher clarification.
Kim 1
July 8, 2011 10:42 AM
Response 8:
Kim said...
GUYS, GUYS, Guys, (well, I am assuming that both of you are guys, even though you have a girl's name -- unlike me -- who was named after Rudyard Kipling's book: Kim, since my dad grew up in India as a missionary kid)...
Anyway, did it even occur to you that Linne might not even read these comments? After all, as Kim 1 suggested, comments to blogs are the one thing that probably get read even less than blogs.
Kim 3
July 8, 2011 10:44 AM
Response 9:
Kim said...
Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to see.
Kim 2
P.S. And yes, I am male too.
July 8, 2011 10:45 AM
My Conclusion
It is my suspicion that there will be even less responses to my blog than to Linne's. Fortuntely, or unfortunately, Linne has at least one weird friend who responded to hers.
Giving a Fairer Perspective
I think that in all fairness to Linne, it would helpful to include her sole 2011 blog contribution as well, so that you can see a better example of her fresh, entertaining writing style.
First, imagine that there is a picture inserted here of Linne cropped closely to show essentially her eyes along with cloth above and below the eyes as if wearing something mandated from the Middle East.
Linne writes:
Yeah, I'm trying to "Smize" or "Smeyes" which is what Tyra Banks says is smiling with your eyes, but I'm afraid she might tell me not to quit my day job. I have decided not to be offended with the world for not following my blog. I haven't been a regular blogger and friends who hoped that I would post often when I first began writing some three years ago were disappointed time and again with my lack of interest in the blog. I like the idea of putting my thoughts out into the world, rather like a message in a bottle, but the world has moved on to Twitter and Facebook and my blogging is not as relevant. I suppose blogging is somewhat arrogant after all. I read part of someone's blog the other day and I was so bored by this person's musings that I wanted to scream. If I wasn't so polite (yes, I think I am too polite even though my family fears to take me out to dinner just in case a foolish waiter makes a mistake on our order) I would have posted on her blog how BORED I was reading what she was writing and that she should just GET TO IT.
So, I've decided that since no one is reading what I am writing that I should just be able to say whatever I want and that my cool picture should reflect my new, carefree, abandoned attitude. To be frank, I am not very honest in my blogging. Oh, I try to be candid, but I don't really write about the deep stuff, the stuff that matters most. Ho hum, this is my opinion on books: Read them. Yawn, these are my thoughts on education: Parents are a critical component to success. Tap, tap, tap with my foot, foot, foot: Honesty is disguised as earnestness.
So here goes a few impolite truths for your reading pleasure:
1. I am fed up with whiny teenagers and most teenagers fit this category - in and out of my church. Good night! I give a cheery word to every dang teenager I encounter and I get back a lot of grunts and sighs. Get over it teens! You have food and a home and clothes; you should be thanking my generation for your unearned prosperity. Many of you act entitled and spoiled and I am OVER it. Next time I'm naming names.......
2. Dieting sucks. I hate not being able to eat without gaining weight and I hate being overweight. I suck at dieting. As soon as my brain tells my stomach that I am dieting, they both get in cahoots to sabotage me. Yesterday, I just decided to finish the peanut butter so that it would cease to be a temptation. Yeah, I know, I could have thrown it away, or put it away, but you don't get a butt my size without justifying a few things along the way. I'm not huge and I'm not skinny - I'm just average. Ugh.
3. My husband is going to be really sad with me, but most world news bores me to tears. Ok, not Japan and the earthquake, but Europe definitely and Italy especially. Berlusconi's antics annoy me beyond reason and I'm about as impatient with him as I am the sullen teenagers. France's Burqa bans make me want to scream and the whole European Union makes me uneasy.
Ahhhhhhh what a breath of fresh air. Maybe my new blog title should be, "Ask Linne what she really thinks."
posted by Linne at 7:23 PM on Mar 13, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)