Friday, April 13, 2007

Blogs and their mundane stories

No one will deny me that you can pretty much write anything on your blog. If you feel like to write how bad the traffic was in the morning is fine. Jotting down about making out with your crush is also great. Even if you just want to post how furious you were to find out your cousin vomiting all over your house is absolutely okay. You are also not restricted to write about a verbose political or philosophical ideas. Blog is functioning like kids' diaries.

Some might tag blogs which have a lot of mundane stories as self-obsessed nerd. Have a look a letter from David M. Ewalt to all twitters:

Dear self-obsessed nerds,

I'm not interested in what you had for breakfast. I don't need to know when you leave for work. Got stuck in bad traffic? Keep it to yourself. Your work habits aren't even important to your coworkers. Your lunch choices matter to no one. Now you're reading your favorite blogs? Color me uninterested. When you leave work, I don't want to hear it. If you go out for drinks, keep it between you and the bartender. And when you get home, don't share your TV viewing habits. They're about as interesting as watching paint dry. What are you doing? I really don't care.

Yours truly, Dave

He apparently missed something. Blogging as an activity is not merely recording what you were up to yesterday or what you have thought on particular topic. What he missed is that blogging can function as diary. He also fails to notice that through ordinariness bloggers build a virtual community. In a life outside your laptop or PC, it is odd to think yourself telling about your mundane life to a complete strangers sitting next to you in a bus or train and expect them to make a comment on it even though that at particular time both of you are probably thinking of how delicious breakfast that you had this morning.

But in blogsphere, you won't get freaked out when a complete stranger who live in the other side of the world shared the same feeling. Once they like your blog, they will return and check how you are. I am amazed to know that people can be regular visitor and have a conversation with the blog-owner. It is like popping in at peoples' house and have a chat, but without a cup of tea and biscuit or cheese platter, isn't it? I am even more amazed how bloggers can build such a beautiful relationship amongst themselves as if they've met before. When you are sick and your workmates do not give a shit about it, blogmates will give you support. When you are feeling low, they will cheer you up. So are they a bunch of self-obsessed nerds?

I don't really care if David does not like reading mundane stuff. But I do like reading what people have for breakfast. I do want to know what they feel about particular thing. One particular blog that talks about mundane life is my blogmate, Steph, her writings show how powerful the banality is. Every posting at least attract more than 50 comments. Ah well she deserves thousand comments as her postings will always make you laughing your arse off. Her creativity of coining new word such as boganesque is a great attraction to me (i like to make a new one as well, it is called dodginise which means to make things worse or dodgy). Her writings abound in wit. She is also quite good in maintaining the relationship with her readers by responding their comments. Anyway, i wish her cousin who spew all over her floor did not get an inspiration from my nickname. If he did then i should ask for an apology.

Sometimes we underestimate all the trivial things that happen in our life. In fact, people can learn from what we thought trivial. They can even share knowledge through their daily experiences.

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