So, Random wants to set up his own blog ;o)  When he does, I’ll link to it from here. (He may also guest post on mine, who knows!)  Got me thinking more about what I want out of this blog.

I’ve been pretty edited in my postings here. Usually nothing you don’t want mom or an employer to read.  (Typically I keep my real name seperate, but I have content on the web with my real (nick) name and a link to here.)

I want to write more, but I can’t decide if I want to break down those walls and be more informal, open and honest (the way I can be on friends-only blogs, such as my tribe blog) or if I want to strive for better writing and reaching more of an audience.  The latter makes me think I would have to consistently write more formal entries, such as those I wrote for the Morristown Green blog about Burning Man, however it’s not necessarily the case and just my internal expectations.

Am I writing for myself or the audience?  Both.  I like having this blog as a check in point for friends, a way to update everyone if they choose to read it.  Everyone wants to be heard, or else blogging wouldn’t be public.  And I’ll admit I love checking blog and flickr account stats for shits and giggles! ;o)  But ultimately I do it for my own enjoyment/cathartic exercise. 

I read a lot of blogs. Friends who post often and fairly openly, if only for friends only communities (on myspace, tribe, LJ).  Those who are celebrities for blogging (dooce and yarnharlot).  And then there’s the niche of those people that I don’t know, they aren’t THAT well known publicly, and yet I’m a loyal reader and almost feel like we are friends even if we’ve never talked.  The top of this list has to be Jen Gray. Her entries always include a photo (I want to take more photos!!), and most of the time some thoughts in her head that both show who she truly is, without revealing every single intimate detail of her life.  These entries are moving, inspirational, comforting, hilarious.  I even find awesome music thanks to her fearless self-made movies.

Ha. I hadn’t read her most recent entry until double checking the URL for the link above.

Leave it to Jen to answer the question before I even asked it today.

 

its okay if you dont do it like they do it
and its okay if you do it that way instead of this way

at the end of the day,
this is still YOUR story.

and not a single person on or off the planet can
tell it or work it the way you can.

your thumbprint is essential here.

only you can see from your eyes,
only you can speak the words in your heart,
only you…

you are past the trying to force a way that doesnt belong to you,
that is why you feel that stuck shit feeling….
because it no longer works.

you know better now.

its your song
your story
your way
your expression
your essence
that is the ticket here.

no one can do it just like you.
not a one.

you own the pencil
you are the author of your life.

and thank god.

it would be like a world of re-runs if we did it everyone else’s way.

 

Do you blog?  How do you choose your voice, or how you present yourself, if that is a conscious decision at all?  What do you expect out of other blogs, whether your friend’s or a stranger’s?  Is there anything you want to see more of in this blog?  I won’t bother asking what you want less of – if it’s here, it’s because I want it… Aside from self-editing for professional or personal reasons, I’m not going to stop doing something when you can easily hit the back button in your browser.  (I’m fair, and try to alert readers before something is graphic or controversial so you have some warning ;o)