Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and screaming,
"WOO HOO, what a ride!"

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

So I was just wondering…

woman wondering

I started this blog on a whim and it’s been a lot of fun and an interesting adventure. I had no clue what I was doing (and still don’t most of the time!) and have really depended on other bloggers and readers. Since I don’t have family or friends that blog I’ve kind of kept it to myself. I didn’t do that intentionally and they all know that I love to read and review books, I just didn’t mention all of the places that I do it. On the one hand, it’s been kind of nice to keep it to myself. It makes me feel a bit anonymous and it’s something that has belonged just to me. On the other hand, it’s not anything that need to be kept a secret and I do mention things about my personal life here on occasion. And once in awhile I accomplish something new that I’m kind of proud of and like to share.

A few months ago I decided to show my husband my blog (that sounds kind of dirty doesn’t it?). He knows the mailman is always bringing packages and he sees the books piled all over the house so it wasn’t that much of a surprise to him, but it was the first time I had shared the details. He was very kind and seemed to appreciate my hard work. It’s not his area of interest but he always encourages me with everything I do. It was nice to finally share it with someone too and I was able to start bouncing ideas off him, rather he liked it or not.  Only a week ago I also showed it to my mom. She loves to read as well and we share many books but I still kept this to myself. I only gave her a brief glimpse at the time but I’m hoping that she may eventually contribute some guest posts and reviews. I really look forward to it! One of these days I’ll let some others in on my little secret. Right now, all of you are who I spend my blog time with because you’re the ones who understand it. You’re the ones who also share bit’s of yourself, who help and support me when I need help here or try something new, and are often in the same blogging boat I’m in. I really appreciate you all but I’m curious who you share your blog with.

So I was just wondering, do you keep your blog a secret (for lack of a better word) too or do you share it with everyone? I know many of you mention family and friends who also have blogs and several of you have had special guest posts from people who are close to you. If you share your blog does everyone know? I’m making this sound like we’re coming out as closeted bloggers and that’s not what I meant! I’m just curious about the role it plays in your life and what others think of it. So go ahead and share. We’re listening!

16 comments:

  1. I'm pretty much still in the closet. My husband knows as well as the kids but I don't think they ever read it. It's my hobby and it just never comes up. I'm kind of protective of it. Weird, I know.

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  2. My biggest and best go-to- other blogger is YOU. Thank heavens you have been here to hold my hand and encourage me to keep on keeping on with this thing! My youngest daughter reads mine but she is much more of a reader than her sister. The Big Guy occasionally reads/critiques/has suggestions about Pudgy's quips but doesn't read the book reviews because sometimes we read the same books and discuss them. A lot of the books I read though, he has no interest in. Good question this week, as always.

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  3. I've told my family and close friends. I've mentioned it to casual friends and their eyes just kind of glaze over, so I quit doing that. My husband is my biggest supporter!

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  4. My hubby knows and is SO proud of me. But most of my relatives do not. I love to keep it on the down low. Like it's my secret oasis. I was just telling my mom about it the other day. I should show her the web site address.

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  5. Everyone knows I have a blog but when I started, for the first year, no one knew. Everyone found out because I am lazy and my travel blog had a link to my personal blog that later had a link to my book blog. I thought I would mind but I never really think about it since I start thinking of fellow bloggers as friends (met some of them in real life) and family.

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  6. Debbie, my neighbors know only because they see the trucks in the area. I had to let my next door neighbor know last year when I was blogging because we went away on vacation and she was getting our mail so I didn't want her to freak when she saw packages the whole week.

    Apart from my husband, son and sister in law oh a friends no one else really knows. I have mentioned to my favorite librarians and bookseller.

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  7. I share my blog with my husband...he usually checks it once a day, and then will comment to me in the evening about it. :) He is happy that I have found something that I really enjoy doing. I have tried to share it with some of my friends, but they aren't too interested in it...

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  8. I share mine as much as possible. I want them to see that I work hard for something I'm passionate about. I also want them to talk about books. :) It's fun.

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  9. My family and some friends know that I blog. I kind of wish I didn't tell them because it bugs me that they don't read it. After all I'm from a family of book people. When I first started my blog I was going to talk about books and things in life that bug me. I soon deleted all those posts once I told someone about my blog. Especially as I would bitch about work. So nothing goes on my blog that I wouldn't want anyone to see.

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  10. All my family and friends know about my blog -- but none of them read it!

    Maybe that's not true, but for sure my husband, mother, and sister don't read it. Or my dad, but that wasn't even an option, bless his heart.

    I link my blog posts to my facebook page, so I think some of my friends read it there.

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  11. I don't hide the fact that I blog, but sometimes I feel uncomfortable explaining it to people who just don't get it. My husband is the only family member who reads it, and he's very supportive. I was surprised when I connected with an old friend from high school on Facebook recently and she told me that she's been reading and enjoying my blog. That was a shocker!

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  12. Funny but I keep my blog to myself for the most part. My kids know about it but aren't too interested. We don't read the same types of books. I think I just needed something that is for myself. I do have some friends who have found my blog. This is an interesting question!

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  13. It took me about a year to start talking about it to friends, but now I do all the time. My posts also show up on my Facebook account and sometimes I'll get comments there, but rarely does anyone take the time to visit the blog, except my Mom, my husband, and occasionally my friend Virginie in France.
    Isn't it nice to have a circle of friends who love the same thing, even if we are all a little faceless?

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  14. I blog openly and send links to everyone I know. I'm such a geek that way. Its like when I used to write poetry every day and show it to everyone to get their opinion. I want to see reactions to get feedback and improve.

    That's why I show it off.

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  15. I started my blog awhile ago when something was going on in my life and I need to give friends and family updates that everything was OK.

    But when I mentioned my blog to friends they would smile in an indulgent 'isn't she adorable' fashion, as if this was just another of my weird hobbies so I left them out of the loop and kept my blog to myself.
    I was quite surprised later on to discover that a couple of friends and even my mum read my blog regularly.

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  16. So I was wondering, would you mind if your mother stopped by once and a while to read a review and admire your work or would you still like to keep it to yourself?
    I'm glad you finally decided to share your little secret with me because I can see a lot of love pride and hard work has gone into your blog. As always I am proud of you and would also like to wish you a happy birthday. Love SueZ

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