An Ode to Bloggers

From time to time, I hop onto blogspot, and just continuously press “next blog” until I find something that looks moderately interesting. Why do I do this? Well naturally, I do it so I can plagiarize, er, so I can see what novel ideas other bloggers are coming up with.

Sadly, 9 times out of 10, I’m sorely disappointed. It seems to be that the vast majority of bloggers out there fall into three distinct categories: The ‘rents, the artsy, and the dark.


The ‘Rents

It seems like every other blog on blogspot is by some new mother or father, talking about how cute, gifted, and/or hilarious their child is. If people really cared about how adorable children (who don't belong to them) are, Bill Crosby would still be relevant with “Kids Say the Darndest Things” – however, the people have spoken, and we have reached the consensus that we’d rather watch Snooki get into a fist fight on Jersey Shore. Don’t get me wrong – I love kids. I have a bunch of nieces and nephews, and I think they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world needs to know about their daily activities including but not limited to napping, pooping, and eating. You want your friends and family to know about all that stuff, send it in an email – otherwise it’s just kinda creepy.

The Artsy

I never realized that blogs were used to showcase people’s photography or illustrations before I started clicking through blogspot. I don’t really understand it. I mean – I guess blogspot is free, so it’s a decent way of getting your ‘work’ out there… but my guess is that there are a pretty limited number of people out there who share your interest in cartoon robots fighting cartoon dragons. Just seems a bit counter-productive is all I’m sayin’. Besides, it’s been my experience that artsy people are usually pretty decent at computer type stuff in general – why not just make your own website to show off your sweet photos of a plastic bag fluttering around in a breeze – simply beautiful.

The Dark

These are the hardest blogs for me to actually get through. I often times have to click out of them before I have a chance to read them all the way through – lest I find myself wearing black nail polish, and eyeliner, crying to the tunes of Marilyn Manson. Time was when depressed kids used to like living the solitary life; I guess now they feel the need to get out there and share their feelings. I guess it’s a step in a right direction, I just kinda hope that I continue to avoid whatever direction they’re going in.


Perhaps I’m being a bit unfair. Every once in a blue moon, I do come across some gem of a blog which is exactly what I’m looking for. Not only do these blogs act as a great means of entertainment, but I think they actually help me write a bit better in my own blog. Here’s a thanks to a few blogs I’ve come across that I think are great… and I’m sure there’s many that I’m forgetting:



Adventures of crazy dog lady and home improvement girl
http://acdl-hig.tumblr.com/post/454408774/dear-world?ref=nf

LIAH – Life inside Andrews head
http://lifeinsideandrewshead.com/?expref=next-blog

From the Minds that brought you ‘Beansy’
http://sheepship.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog


- Jack Asher