Top Ten Tuesday: Why I Love Book Blogging

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

Book Blogging...
I've been a part of this community for approximately 14 months now, and I just can't help but love every minute of it. Okay, there have been some ups and downs associated with it, but overall I wouldn't trade anything for it.

Here are my Top Ten reasons I wouldn't give this up:

10. Sanity
Blogging helps keep me sane. Well, saner, at least. When I took breaks from the blog, I think I actually suffered more than revived. Yes, the blog can get overwhelming (mostly due to my own procrastination) at times, but ultimately it provides an anchor that I can keep coming back to even when everything else is tossed into chaos.

9. Flexibility
As much as I like schedules and having things done "on time", it sure is nice to be able to push things back when life has other plans. There are no rules or regulations when it comes to book blogging, no time limit, no word limit, no speed limit. It's completely flexible with whatever I want and need to happen.

8. No Boss
Somewhat analogous with #9, having no boss means that what I'm doing isn't being judged by anyone. Well, I suppose my follower-count might be somewhat of a judge, but anyone in this business will tell you that subscribers aren't a measurement for anything. With blogging, you're held to a standard that is only your own, which after years of school, competitions, and then low-tier jobs, it's quite liberating.

7. Winning
I'd be lying if I didn't say I loved winning giveaways/contests. I normally don't consider myself very lucky, so on the off-chance that I actually do get my name drawn in a giveaway, it's just exhilarating and brightens my entire day/week. Then there's the second thrill when the package arrives! So much fun!

6. Motivation
Graduating with a degree in "Creative Writing", then moving to the job market where every writing job demands "7 years professional experience" (don't ask me why it's always 7) can certainly get a girl down. But lo and behold: a place where I can practice and improve my trade!
Who could ask for more?

5. Creative Outlet
Not only in writing posts, but also designing layouts, graphics, color schemes, and even post templates, I've got the perfect canvas for all my creative aspects to shine.

4. Recommendations
There are so many books out there, it's nice to get a nudge in the right direction every once in a while. Or even the wrong direction, just to know not to go back.

3. Discussions
I've seen some sites where 'comments' dive straight into the territory of spam and trolls. It's nice to have a place where it's expected to be sincere and cordial but still honest and open with opinions. And where the prompts and responses both are extremely well thought-out, clear, clever,
and 99% typo-free. Please, sir, can I have some more?

2. Doing What I Love
Really, I couldn't ask for anything better than reading a book and writing about it. Even back in 8th grade, I fell in love with writing book reports; I wrote one that was over 10 pages (granted, most of it was the summary of the book, but still). Over the years the 'study' of books became more intense - trying to find themes, comparisons, reasons for, etc, etc. And yet, I still managed to hang on to my initial love of reading, and grew to accept my own opinions on the matter as worthy of statement. I believe that whatever life throws at me, I'll still make time for book blogging.

1. Community
There's so much I could say about the book blogging community, and I still wouldn't even begin to cover it. Reading and writing are both solitary experiences, but having all of us endeavoring to share our experiences with one another... It's more than a book club, or a fan forum... Oh, I don't know how to explain it without sounding completely corny, so I'll just keep it simple. Book blogging has connected me with like-minded people all over the world: whether it be authors I can aspire to, reviewers I can reflect on, or readers I can relate with, I know am not alone. And that's a great feeling.

An Award!

I'm lucky enough to have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by Mandy at Literary R&R.  After spending so much time putting the new design together, it really means a lot. Thank you so much, Mandy!

Rules of the award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and let them know they have won!

Well, with Part 1 down, here's Part 2:

1. I watch WALL-E nightly to fall asleep. I think it has to do with the lack of dialog, coupled with the simple storyline.

2. My dad just had heart bypass surgery last week. He's doing really great so far, and I'm hopeful for a smooth and speedy recovery.

3. My favorite video game is Pokemon! I'm lousy at anything run-and-jump, so a turn-based RPG is right up my alley! If I had to choose a favorite pokemon...I don't think I could! But Eevee ranks pretty highly ^_^

4. I majored in Creative Writing in college. I know, it'll probably have me living out of a box, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted!

5. My computer still runs Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003. I know, I'm still in the dark ages, but it works and that's all I need right now!

6. I used to play volleyball when I was in elementary and middle school. By high school I'd fully committed to marching band, so my schedule was full. When I started out, I used to serve the ball underhanded, and one time I hit it so high it went through the building's rafters. Let's just say, my serves had a lot of speed built up when they hit the player/court ;D

7. I'm a Hoosier by birth, but my mom had Oregon sand brought into the hospital room, so the first "earth" I touched was from Oregon. Does that make me a 6th generation Oregonian?

Now that that's over, it's time for me to pass things off to 15 others. Well, if I can think of that many! I'll try my best. If you've got time, why not give them a look?

Oktopus Ink
Steampunkery & Book Reviews
Shut Up! I'm Reading.
You're Killing Me
A Life Bound By Books

Honestly, so many others have gone to "Award-Free" blogs, that I'm a bit pressed to find 10 more! 

So, I'll leave it at that. And I'll leave it as optional for them to pass it along. While it's a good idea in theory, so many of these awards have gotten spamish, that I'm tempted to go Award-Free myself.

Well, that's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Wonder-No-More Wednesday (5)

Wonder-No-More Wednesday Rules:

1. Answer every question to the best of your ability.
No one or two-word responses. Take some time with your replies.
2. Each question must at least be acknowledged.
If you're uncomfortable providing a truthful response,
at least thank the commenter for their curiosity.
3. If there are no questions, provide a question of your own.
What're you reading? How was your day? What'd you do this weekend?
And then, of course, respond to it.
There's no reason you can't indulge your readers' curiosity.

This Meme may be copied on your own pages, but please link it back to me and my blog.
Thank you!

Teresa of Teresa's Reading Corner asks:

Is a thundering rainstorm really relaxing? The real ones don't exactly do that to me...

~ Having grown up in Indiana, I grew up with thunderstorms. Oregon, however, does not have thunderstorms, except for maybe one or two in the summer (last year we had 5+, this year none). I miss them a lot, and so I find listening to them very soothing. Also, the particular version I listen to is supplemented with flute music, so there's that too.

Melanie of Read It In 7 Days asks:

And Spirited Away, that had some awesome music, so did Princess Mononoke. Or is there actually a movie that's not the anime I'm thinking about?

~ If there is, I don't know about it. I'm thinking of the Miyazaki anime as well. I've only seen 4 of his so far (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, and Kiki's Delivery Service), but my sister owns all of them so I'll no doubt get around to the rest eventually. And yes, they all have amazing soundtracks.

And now, a question for you:
How many blogs are you following, and how do you keep track of them?

I am currently following just under 400 blogs. I keep track of them all (and read them all) in Google Reader, only actually visiting those I want to respond to.

Some of these blogs I've already shifted into my Stop Following folder because I added them purely out of Blogger Hop necessity. Others I'm still on the fence about whether I enjoy them or not, and then I have the ones that I absolutely love. Unfortunately, even the ones I enjoy are a bit overwhelming at times, and my blogs to-be-read list goes over 1000 if I fall behind even one day.

So, I'm wondering, am I simply following too many? Or is there a better way to manage them?

That's A Wrap!

Blog Award(s)

Woot! My first blog award! Many thanks to Jazz from About Books Blog for giving me this one.
And I also got one from Heather at Buried in Books! Thanks Heather!!

Here's How This Award Works:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.


7 Things About Me

1. I watch WALL-E to fall asleep.

2. I bought my first dress ever a couple weeks ago.

3. I am allergic to Chocolate Mousse (but I don't know how).

4. I attended a college with a student body smaller than my high school's.

5. My room has a full-wall-mural of a castle, which I like to pretend is Hogwarts.

6. I was on a bowling league through middle and high school; my best game was in the 240's.

7. Seven is my favorite number, and its double is my second favorite; hence this website's address.


15 Versatile Bloggers
 On to the 15 bloggers I will award, in no particular order...
1. En Violet
2. The Bodacious Pen
3. DJ's Life in Fiction
4. HKBuena Sketchblog
5. J. Cordelia
6. Something Like That
7. ...with sprinkles!
8. The Story Siren
9. Patricia's Particularity
10. -La Femme Readers-
11. Teens Read And Write
12. All-Consuming Books
13. Badass Bookie
14. Inside of a Dog
15. Reads, Reviews, Recommends

You are all welcome to continue the pass-along, or not. I know it's hard not to get repetitive.

Some Hopping Tips

or
The Results of My First Blogger Hop

Blogs Visited:
262

New Blogs Followed:
200+

Total Blogs Now Following:
375

Comments on My Blog:
83

New Followers:
77

That's right, I visited, commented on, and followed every blog I could.
(Blogs that did not support Google-Followers, I passed on)

I made it my personal goal to visit every single one this weekend; even stayed up way past exhaustion last night to finish.

Today, I was rewarded with over 300 posts (from Sunday and Monday) in my Google-Reader, which I diligently skimmed and read. It took me (I'm guessing) over 3 hours.

I just got back from an hour-long massage-shower to release my headache and shoulder tension.

Do NOT Do What I Did.

Have you ever gone to an all-you-can-eat buffet, filled yourself to full, then gone back one more time for dessert? Or how about gotten a gym membership and spent two hours going full-speed/full-strength?

Do you remember how it felt the next day?

Yeah, that's about what I'm feeling right now.

So here are my tips on how to safely and successfully Blog Hop:

1. Set a Realistic Goal
Pick a number you're comfortable with following and stick to it. No one is judging you on how many blogs you visit. In fact, there's no (easy) way to keep track at all. The only judge you have is yourself, and I think they'll understand your reasoning.

2. Be Sure to Leave Comments
Remember what I said about 'no way to keep track'? Well, when you visit someone's blog, be sure to leave them a comment. It doesn't have to be super fancy or detailed, but there are a couple things it should include:

A Polite Greeting
As in any correspondence, this helps break the ice and establish a connection.
"Hi there!"
"Hey ho, how's it hangin?!"
 "Caught you through the Hop!"

 Some Positive Detail You Noticed About Their Blog/Post
 An added bonus to the ice-breaker, this gives the blog owner a reason to further their connection with you. It always makes people feel good to know their hard work is being seen/read.
"I loved [insert book title] too!"
"Your banner is really ugly."
"Wow, your story is really similar to mine!"

A Tactful Link to Your Own Blog
Always leave a link. This is about establishing connections. How are we supposed to do that if you say 'hi' and disappear? However, don't be forceful about it. Provide it as an opportunity, not an obligation.
"I also review SciFi in my blog, (link)"
"Go to my blog if you ever want to see your family again: (link)"
"Hope you can hop over my way too! (link)"
"I visited you, now you visit me! It's only fair. (link)"
"Care to venture into (The Wolf's Den)?"

Now, while it's best to make each and every entry unique, if you are dealing in mass there's nothing wrong with creating a template that you can copy and paste. Especially when it comes to links—you don't want to mistype your blog-page and accidentally send them somewhere else!

3. Be Smart About Following 
Don't Expect a Follow for a Follow. 
While it's nice to think the above is some sort of unwritten rule, this can't be farther from the truth. I've seen some blogs with over 1000 followers, and you can bet that that person isn't following 1000 blogs. Well, at least not actively. They might be 'a Follower', but that's not the same as 'Following'.
I'll expand on this more below.

Don't Try to Force Followers
Ever gone into a store and been besieged by salespeople? Or have you gotten solicitors at your door? Most often your immediate reaction is "I'm not interested, GO AWAY!" Trying to force people to follow you just makes them that much more eager to say 'no'.

Follow Your Interests
If you can't stand Romance, why follow someone who only reviews Romance? You'll never actually read their posts, and that just defeats the purpose of following in the first place! It's like someone handing out all their pamphlets only to discover they've all been thrown in the trashcan around the corner. Be honest about what you'll read.

And in the same respect, don't expect people to follow your blog if it doesn't interest them.

4. Organize Your Reader
If you're like me, and you may have overshot your bounds, be smart about how you read things. Don't spend hours trying to sort through things you may not want to read... I dumped ALL Book Blogs into ONE folder, so it took forever to sort through it all.

Set Up Genre Folders
That way you can hit certain blogs when you're in the mood, or save others for another time.

Set Up a Probationary List
If you did select too many blogs to follow, put some in a folder that you can browse at your leisure to see if you really do like their writing style. Give it a couple weeks. If you can't remember liking anything of theirs in that time, it's probably best that you un-follow them.

5. Review and Make New Goals
After it's all over take into account what you did and what results you got.
How many did you visit?
How many did you like?
How many will you follow?
What was your blog's visiting rate?
DID YOU HAVE FUN?!

As for me, I visited over 200 blogs and got around 80 visits.
I had a lot of fun, but I also overexerted myself.
Next time (yes, I will do this again) I probably won't visit (or follow) every single blog I find. I'll definitely be more selective in my genres, and I'll stop when I feel like stopping.

Big thanks to Crazy-for-Books for hosting this weekend's Hop.
I hope you all enjoyed your own hopping.

Until next time...

Book Blogger Hop (1)

Okay, honestly I don't know how many of these I will be doing.
Probably not too many, as I generally browse around book blogs enough on my own and add them to my GIGANTIC LIST as I go.
But...hey, why not try something new, right?

So here goes...

Tell us your NAME and WHY YOU STARTED BLOGGING



Hey, I'm Vicki.

I started blogging because I was told it was the best way
to get my writing out there.

See, I graduated with a BA in Creative Writing in May of 2010, and after months of stagnancy and joblessness, I started wondering what was the best way to market myself. My dad and/or a friend suggested that blogging was the best way to put myself out there, start having my voice heard.

The first couple months went slowly. I only had one or two readers, so I wasn't really inspired to post much. Then I decided to start posting some book reviews. I'd done a little of that on Facebook, but, again, I didn't feel like it was getting anywhere. Here, on a blog, I felt it at least had the ability to be read.

Thus, I retooled my blog (slightly) and began posting more bookish subjects.
I've reviewed 14 books (in 6 blogs) as well as posted a couple speculations.
I mostly stick with Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, SciFi, and YA,
but I do branch out from time to time.
I've also included a post or two of my own writing!

It's been a fun trip so far, and I hope I've piqued your interest.


Feel free to post a link to your own blog in the comments,
and be sure to check out other blog-hoppers at Crazy-for-Books' blog!

In semi-related news, I'll be finishing High Wizardry either tonight or tomorrow then starting on the next book quickly after that.
So, my next review pairing should be up Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Contests!

You probably think I'm going insane with all this posting recently. Don't worry, this one isn't too long.

I'm simply pointing out the new "Contests!" list down there on the right...and highlighting the first one there:


Enter To Win FIVE Books:

Nightshade ~ Andrea Cremer (ARC)
Paranormalcy ~ Kiersten White (ARC)
The Eternal Ones ~ Kirsten Miller (ARC)
Halo ~ Alexandra Adornetto (ARC)
Pegasus ~ Robin McKinley (ARC)

AND

FIVE packs of 5 gum:
Zing (Bubble)
Cobalt (Peppermint)
Flare (Cinnamon)
Lush (Tropical)
Rain (Spearmint)

Simply enter at The Undercover Book Lover Blog
HERE

Okay. That's all for now.

Leave It To House

Heylow peoples,

I trust you've been having a good week thusfar. Mine has improved substantially since posting my last update. I have managed to check a couple things off my list (posting my author's profile on DeviantArt, writing that blog) and am moving further along on others (finishing The Gun Seller).

Today is also my Grandpa's 74th birthday. Of course, he's far too technophobic to ever read this, but Happy Birthday! nonetheless.

And finally, on the heels of my last entry, leave it to one of my favorite shows to address exactly what I was doing. I started blogging first and foremost because I was told it was a good idea to get some of my writing out there and accessible. Obviously my last entry had nothing to do with that whatsoever, and was more of a personal journal than something anyone would have interest in reading.

As if on cue, House M.D. returned this week with an episode titled Private Lives, in which the main patient happens to be a blog-o-maniac, nearly OCD about blogging everything that she experienced. Throughout the episode she, her husband, and the regular cast exchange some enlightening thoughts about the blogging mania, and its impact on the blogger.

Spoiler alert - I summarize events and quote dialog from this episode, so if you haven't seen it and still want to, skip this section now.

*********

HOUSE'S OFFICE

The doctors are trying to establish what is wrong with the patient, and how to start fixing her...

House: What does she blog? Politics, dominatrix, cooking? 'Cause I need recipes.

Chase: It's a personal journal. I don't get putting your whole life online.

Taub: It's not that crazy. Privacy is basically a modern invention. Towns used to be too small for anybody to keep any secrets.

[insert medical talk relevant to diagnosing the patient]

House: (seemingly ignoring the medical talk) And knowing too much about each other is exactly why people leave small towns and move to the city.

Taub: And a lot of people stay, because in return for zero privacy you get community, connection...

House: Big red A's for our tunics. Connections are for airports. For people, we have over 300 cable channels.

**********

PATIENT'S ROOM

Doctors Taub and Foreman enter. The patient is on her bed with her laptop. There is another woman sitting in a chair beside the bed, also on a laptop. They are both staring intently at their screens.

Taub: It's nice to have visitors.

Patient: I'm updating my blog.

Woman Visitor: And I'm reading it.

Taub: (pauses) You realize you're in the same room?

Patient: (smiles and pushes laptop away) Sorry. (turns to Foreman) So I've been thinking about what you said, and I'm sure I washed my hands after I threw out the rat poison.

Foreman: Apparently you did it multiple times over a course of days. Can't be too certain.

Woman Visitor: You must be Doctor Foreman. (closes her laptop and stands) I've got to get back to work. Take it easy. (touches Patient's arm, picks up her things and leaves)

Doctors both look at Patient.

Patient: What? She reads my blog.

Taub: (leans over to read laptop screen) Personally, I don't think you're condescending at all.

Patient: That's not what I wrote.

Foreman's eyes widen and he too leans in to read.

Patient Continues: When you were taking my history, I told you I went white-water rafting 6 months ago, and you said it was, (in snobbish voice) 'Unlikely to be related.' (normal voice) I was just giving information. Let's face it, you got a little snarky.

Foreman: You can't convey a tone of voice in writing.

Patient: I just put what you said. If you don't want people to think you're condescending, maybe you shouldn't say condescending things.

Taub nods approvingly.

Patient: Can this wait a sec, cause I have to pee. (gets out of bed and walks toward adjoining restroom) You know, I think people behave badly because there are no records of what we say or do.

The Doctors exchange yawns and eye-rolling-type gestures as she continues off screen.

Patient Continues: And nobody believes anymore that God's watching. Well, God's not, but I am. Everything's on the record, including everything I do.

*********

HOUSE'S TEAM'S OFFICE

Chase is sitting at a laptop. Thirteen walks in.

Thirteen: Find anything?

Chase: Relevant? No. Interesting? I guess. There's nothing she doesn't share. "Angry Sex is Overrated. How can he expect me to be aroused when I'm so pissed at him?"

Thirteen: Revelations like that might just earn her a new kidney. An hour after she blogged about her kidney failure, the hospital got a call. From Singapore. One of [The Patient's] readers asking how hard it would be to donate.

*********

X-RAY ROOM

Chase is in the midst of getting the Patient ready for an x-ray.

Patient asks if one of her 'complaints' in her blog could really mean she has this disease.

Chase: Yeah. It's lucky you wrote about that.

Patient: I'm a little crazier-thinking to share that much?

Chase: Not crazy. Unusual, thinking to be that intimate with people you don't know.

Patient: But I do know them. They read my blog, I comment on theirs... Just cause you haven't met someone physically, doesn't mean you don't know them.

Patient and Chase move on to talk about their intimate relationships.

Patient: ...Sometimes it's easier to open up to people who aren't looking you.

*********

One of the Patient's heart valves is nearly gone, so she is then faced with replacing it with a plastic valve--which results in medication that wouldn't allow for having kids--or a pig's heart valve--which would require subsequent surgeries every 10 years, go against her recent vows against animal cruetly, and anger her many vegan and vegetarian readers.

When given the news, she is left alone with her husband to discuss whether or not they want kids. Instead of having a conversation with him, however, she reaches for her laptop to get her readers' opinions, much to the anger and disgust of her husband.

He asks her not to blog it; that it should be her decision, not theirs. She responds, "If I start picking and choosing, I'm being dishonest. I'm sorry." She then picks up her laptop and starts typing.

*********

PATIENT'S ROOM

Patient closes her laptop and looks up at her Husband.

Patient: I'm going with plastic. It just makes more sense. I don't want another operation later.

Husband: That's not why you're doing this. Look, when you were first telling me about why you loved the internet, you said that no one has to be alone again. Whoever you are, whatever you love, you can connect with someone. If you want to recreate the Boston Tea Party, dressed as Imperial Storm Troopers, you can find the other 10 people in the world who have always wanted to do that.

Patient: That hasn't changed.

Husband: But you have. This thing that you do is not about connection anymore, it's about an audience. It's a performance, and you've got one eye on the number of hits. You've turned our lives into their entertainment.
(sits down next to Patient)
You're smart, you're fun to read. It's okay. But don't give them this. (pause) Or if you do, don't...expect me to be here.

*********

SURGERY WAITING ROOM

Patient and Husband are waiting to go into surgery.

Patient: Are you going to be here when I wake up?

Husband moves closer, rests a hand on her head, looks at her but stays silent.

Patient: I hate that you don't have a blog. I hate that I don't know what you're thinking.

Husband: Let's not get into it right now.

*********

After her appendix bursts, the Patient is given a diagnosis of Leukemia, giving her about a year to live. This is then rejected because of a new symptom, and she is given a new diagnosis with 3 or 4 days to live.

House then has one of his traditional breakthroughs in a totally unrelated conversation and 'rushes' to the Patient's room. There he engages in a conversation about her bowel movements in order to confirm his theory...

House: You just had to be so...suaft (?). You're a hypocrit. No lies, no secrets, but everything stops at your colon. 4000 pages, not one word about BMs. And I bet yours don't smell at all.

Patient: Nobody wants to hear about that stuff.

House: Readers don't. People who don't really care about you don't. But doctors might.

[Insert more talk about feces and the REAL diagnosis!]

House: We all need some secrets. As long as they don't kill us, they keep us safe and warm.

Doctors leave to go start new treatment. Patient and Husband hug and have a double kiss. Patient decides she's gonna choose the pig valve. Husband glances over, then grabs the laptop and gives it to her.

Husband: I know you'll go crazy if you don't tell people.

Patient: (laughs) Thank God you're an enabler.

She opens the laptop with a deep breath and...end of her story arc.

*********

So, is blogging more about community, or putting on a performance? Is it leaving a record of accountability, or is it misrepresenting those who are quoted?

In a way...Yes. Yes to all of the above.

When I found my only follower to be one of my college friends (holla Jamika!), I reassessed what I wanted this blog to be about and decided that I could/would include a bit more personal information. Not just a highlight of my work, or my style, but something that would be more fun and informal. My previous piece may have gone a little overboard, but it got a lot of stuff off my back and enabled me to move on with a big sigh of relief. Will I ever do something like that again? Probably not. But then again, who knows?

But I feel that me and my reader(s) form a community, or have already come from an established community. (So far) We all know each other from outside the bloggosphere, and any thoughts we share here are furthering our connection. Corny, perhaps, but to some extent it's definitely true.

Do I think that it's possible to get sucked into the internet? Definitely. I've faced a bit of that myself in the past few years. Granted, I was connecting with people in a certain niche (Harry Potter), and it wasn't hundreds (maybe 20 at most). They weren't making my decisions for me. They weren't dictating my opinions. They were simply acquaintances, and some made it far enough for me to call them friends. But would I say I was performing for their approval? Not any more than I would for people in real life.

That said, I would love for more people to follow my blog. I would love to be one of those huge, well-known bloggers who gets hundreds of comments and responses from every blog. However, as I haven't committed myself to a mainstream topic, I probably won't ever get that kind of response. And, for the time being, I've resigned myself to that.

That's where I found the Patient's implied 'shitload' of followers (the guy in Singapore?) to be a bit unbelievable for a personal journal. She didn't sound like she had that much of an interesting life, so I'm not sure where she got such a big hook that hundreds of people all over the globe would start following her. Maybe, after her near-death experience and her being treated by one of the most renowned Diagnosticians, she might draw a larger pool of interest, but going in to the episode, "Tyler and I Had a Fight" and "Angry Sex is Overrated" just aren't going to win you hundreds of readers, nor reach a global fanbase.

Might blogs make people more accountable for their everyday actions? Possible, but on the whole, I doubt it. Going along with the 'journal-type blogs aren't going to get millions of followers', complaining about the jerk who sat by you on the bus with his music too loud isn't going to make the population remember to turn their music down in enclosed spaces. Sure, if you blog about a person by name, then your record might pop up in a Google search, and then they might be impacted.

There was a more compelling argument for records/accountability in a Gaming Convention video I saw recently... About how everything we do will generate Achievement Awards. And even then...it's only a slim chance that we as a culture/species can ever take accountability for our actions instead of just looking out for #1.

And the last point: are we, as bloggers, misrepresenting the subjects on which we report? Well, informal bloggers (such as myself) are not journalists. Most times we don't or can't get both sides of a story, or event, or person, in order to accurately report the truth. Everything we say is simply an interpretation or an opinion of what happened.

In the example of the Patient blogging about her doctors, Foreman was right. She couldn't, or didn't try, to 'convey [his] tone of voice in writing'. Therefore, he could easily have been slandered as condescending, when he wasn't. Future employers might then, upon Googling his name, decide that his bedside manner isn't what they are looking for. At the same time, ideally, people reading this blog should take into account that it is simply one opinion, not a carefully and unbiasedly documented case.

Blogs are important tools for getting information out there. However, blogs are primarily for the enjoyment for the writer. They are often effective therapy, since sometimes it is 'easier to open up to people who aren't looking you' or who you've never even met. Readers may come and go, but the author's happiness is the most important in the relationship. They aren't getting paid for it, they aren't winning awards for it (*cough* yet *cough*), and 90% of them aren't researching their information for it.

It's just for fun. And it should stay that way.

And with that, I bid you adieu for another week(ish amount of time).

Cheerio, pip pip,
~Vicki