Wednesday 20 April, 2005

This blog

A beautiful day again today, only much warmer than yesterday.

But no, that's not what I wanted to write about.

I started the morning with the Kultainen Kuukkeli judges' meeting, and we finally hammered out the winners for the Finnish blog awards. Personally I'm pleased enough with them, all good blogs although some of my current favourites didn't quite make it. After the meeting something didn't quite feel right though, and until Outi put it into words (in Finnish) I had brushed it aside as "my problem". [She writes about how she hates how some people categorize blogs into "good blogs" and "bad blogs" depending on their subject matters.]

This blog is a so called "haircut blog" - meaning I mainly write about very ordinary things: what I did, where I went and what I had for lunch. I have opinions about politics and ethics, but I don't tend to write about them here - most of the time I feel that other people say "important" things much better than I do and I don't want to repeat them. For me this blog is a way to keep family and relatives somehow involved with my life, and I dare say this blog is quite imporant to some of them. But in addition to them, there are also some "random" - and mostly anonymous - readers that came once, liked what they saw and keep coming back. I find it flattering, and I'm glad some people find my writings interesting even if they don't personally know me.

But to think that because I don't write about the current affairs or that I don't have strong political opinions that I voice out here - some people think that this blog is somehow second rate? To be honest that thought hurts my feelings - even though I know the comments weren't probably meant like that. But I had a look at my current blogroll - and I have to say over 90% of the blogs I follow are "haircut blogs" of people I know or whose lives I find otherwise interesting. Rarely do I read a blog because of the subject matter, in almost all of the cases I read it because the person behind it interests me and their writings reflect their personalities.

I should just drop the subject and be happy that the people that mean something to me like D/k.

Right.

Posted by kolibri at 20 April 22:44, 2005
Comments
# 1 - Kristiina (on April 21, 2005 12:52 AM):

Extremely important point, even made me go and comment on the original writer's blog, even though I don't know her (and I never, ever do that).

(Come to think of it, I never, ever do this either, so that should tell you how strongly I agree on the issue.)

I don't think there's anything inherently more valuable in writing about politics than about personal lives. Sure, some people are so good at it that it _becomes_ more valuable - that they actually are able to influence and educate others - but let's face it: most _aren't_. The old truth about opinions and a-holes still holds. And blogs about special interests and work issues really, REALLY do not deserve any special adulation - they're just ordinary life, as well. And not the most difficult parts of it either.

Gah. Better stop before I say something I will regret. I'm angry enough.


# 2 - Emokolibri (on April 21, 2005 01:18 AM):

Dear Kolibri,
I am not neutral. Nethertheless, I want to say that I enjoy the journalistic touch of your blog. It is both insightful and gentle. And don't say that your blog doesn,t contain politics. It does, eg. on animal rights. You use your weapon wisely, not babbling every day.


# 3 - Chu (on April 21, 2005 04:22 AM):

To me it would easily become tiring to read about a certain subject day in and day out, unless the said subject was very close to my own heart.

Come to think of it, this familiarity or sense of sharing must account for the appeal of blogs revolving around a particular occupation, phenomenon, interest, hobby and such.

Well, I get my sense of sharing from sharing your life via D/k. That's the topic of D/k, after all: your life together, at the moment in Vancouver.

What I love about this blog is both of your experiences and discoveries, observations and insights into books, games, yoga, wrestling and cooking, to name a few. While Dragon tends to write fairly seldom, in my opinion you guys have a good balance fitting of your namesakes: a kolibri moves quickly and steadily, creating flow of movement and beauty, her flight intertwined with the occasional beat of a dragon's mighty wings.

Please keep D/k up - for us who appreciate it.


# 4 - Chu (on April 21, 2005 04:31 AM):

Oh, another thing: Were I writing a blog myself, I'd certainly leave a lot things out of it, perhaps even the majority of my life, simply because a blog is a public medium.

So no reason to feel odd about not talking about your ethical or political views etc. Not everything is public property - or even of interest to them :).


# 5 - kolibri [TypeKey Profile Page] (on April 21, 2005 11:35 PM):

Thanks guys, your words mean an awful lot to me. Your words are the only ones that really mean something to me.


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