Lost in translation

I googled "Crazy Blog Lady" this morning. I was pretty stoked when something that looked familiar showed up on the second page of results. I clicked, and here is what I found:
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Crazy Blog Lady: Long odds and aspirations

Yesterday, I build this affix at Lifehacker. surprisingly They are looking befitting a revitalized Grub Streeter. surprisingly I assume from their affix, reasoning, someday. I was struck -away how enthusiastically some rather necessitous writers announced their intentions to criticize.

that would be clowning.I re-read the affix, and the comments. I assume from that affix and the comments six or seven, perchance more, times. I characterize of surprisingly uncomplimentary partake of what they are looking befitting: I can explain away things in understandable terms, I am consumed -away a crave to recover at all times and spondulix and esprit, I validate doing it myself. surprisingly Each at all times I assume from it I got a unimaginative more intrigued, a unimaginative more interested, a unimaginative more inspired. surprisingly I partake of a blog. He has a ability befitting gently getting my man at large of the clouds. I typed at large a express and close-packed email with a bond to my blog, but in the days I sent it, I talked to my spouse.

surprisingly I told him that I be conversant with that the odds of Lifehacker choosing me are ridiculously delicate. I sent the email. He nodded and said, You about 100 percent of the shots you don’t have recourse to.So I took a projectile. Without a dubiosity, there are myriad more conditional applicants at large there. surprisingly Perhaps others partake of blogged alongside topics more allied to the customarily Lifehacker reader. surprisingly uncomplimentary People with encounter, or complex dexterity, or surprisingly a less trespass means with words.

None of that makes a whit of metamorphosis to me, because I had an epiphany after I clicked the send button. I am an aspiring Grub Streeter. surprisingly It’s as if I build my principled life’s-work. I’m not steadfast what the metamorphosis is between aspiring writer and writer, but I guess compensation is snarled. I should validate an audience other than my friends and genealogy. surprisingly I have recourse to for granted if I am current to aspire, surprisingly I should suffer to essay book and/or compensation. surprisingly I weigh pay out of the clowning of being an aspiring Grub Streeter is almost identical to the being a starving artist- surprisingly It’s clowning, it’s funky, it’s exhilarating- without any of the bother of being an undistorted Grub Streeter like deadlines, critics, and editors.

I am charmed to aspire. surprisingly I may be an aspiring Grub Streeter befitting the drop of my sentiment, and that is fee with me. surprisingly For contemporary, at least.

Partager ce billet

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Funny, huh? As if my post had been translated into french and then back into English, I assume.

I googled Grub Street, and found this at Encyclopedia Brittanica:

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Grub Street

literary hacks

Main

the world of literary hacks, or mediocre, needy writers who write for hire. The term originated in the 18th century and was frequently used by writers.

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funny!

I admire guinea pigs.

I am intrigued by "All-or-nothing" social experiments, where people do (or refrain from doing) a certain thing for a specified amount of time, and then report.
"Super Size Me" is probably the most well-known of these social experiments. Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's food for 30 days, gained weight, and made a film about it.
I thumbed through A Year Without "Made in China" - I tried to read it, but it was a boring book about an interesting idea- one family's year of buying nothing made in China. They found it difficult. I am not sure whether or not they found it rewarding.
That lead me to Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, which I checked out from the library, in the spirit of the book. I am glad I did, because I found the book unreadable. But the idea... the idea is fascinating.
The "no-shopping" idea may have been inspired by "The Compact", a group that started in San Francisco, with the intent of reducing consumerism by refusing to buy any new products. Mercifully, there is an exception for some "personal" goods.
There was an article in O, the Oprah magazine. The author promised she was going to "live the perfect life" for 30 days. Turns out, she just exercised and ate healthy food everyday. Big deal.
The most interesting account of one of these social experiments was The Year of Living Biblically. It's a great book about an agnostic Jew's attempt to live as the bible instructs- literally- for a year. Funny, educational, thought-provoking. A.J. Jacobs, the author, had an advantage over the others as he was a writer before he became an experimenter. He had previously conducted a social experiment in which he read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica in an attempt to know everything there is to know.

I guess I am thinking about these experiments now because I have made my own commitment to write every day for a year. The idea was sort of hatched when Megan, my cousin, told me that she had thought about doing her own 365 project, where she takes one photograph every day and posts it. It turned into an "I willl if you will" situation... and here we are, nearly one week in. I'm not certain I can be interesting every day for a year. If I only had some sort of "thing" I could blog about....

I've considered: No sugar (too difficult), No profanity (not interesting), Give one thing away per day (logistically challenging, but not impossible- however, what's the point?), no TV (too easy)... I read once that if you study any one thing for 30 minutes a day, you'll be an expert in a year. Maybe I'll test that theory. Now, what to study?

No Authority Yet

A good way to learn about blogging is to read other blogs. I've discovered that blogging is a very popular subject among bloggers. Since I've only been at it for a week, I don't feel qualified to dispense advice- but I am happy to share what I have learned.

1. Get a counter. I got mine from statcounter. I got it because Tony Pierce told me to. I didn't think I would need it, because I didn't think anyone would read my blog, but...

2. People will read your blog if you blog about a hot athlete.

3. There is a thing called technorati . I am not exactly sure what it is, but it has put itself in charge of dealing out Authority, and it hasn't given me any yet. I don't know if that's important or not, but I want some Authority.

4. Blogging is harder than it looks.

5. Blogging is more fun than you would think.