Burningbird

A graceful end to what could have been an ugly and unfunny blog war.

Well done.

(Yeah. Yeah. I’m going back to my writing. Just wanted to update a thread that needed updating. And NJ Meryl, a little tune just for you…just because I’m an evil woman.)

-earlier-

My apologies to readers for down time earlier (which is why I’m posting and not writing at this moment). I’m still waiting to hear from InterLand about the cause of the problems, this time.

Nex time I move, I swear I’m going to start hosting my own server. I may still have problems but I won’t have the following conversations:

• Me: So what was the problem?

Them: There were latency problems

Me: Due to….?

Them: Problems

Me: And….?

Them: The problems have been fixed.

Me: And why were there problems?

Them: Latency.

Arrrgggghhhhh!!

In the meantime, there’s been a little sizzle related to Jonathon’s Blogicon item.

BTW – Winerlog, I gave you a little link-love…

I read Chris Prillo’s Blogging Manifesto as well as the reactions to it such as Mike Sander’s and Jonathon’s.

Mike based a new question on this discussion — Who is the real you. Damn, Mike! Please promise me you’ll personally send me an email when you ask a simple question such as What’s your favorite ice cream flavor, would you?

The real me. I probably share more of myself online than many, but you all don’t know the real me. This isn’t an insult; I’m not rejecting the honor that you bestow on me by spending time out of your busy day to read my words, but what I write here isn’t the sum and total of me.

In college, I studied a theory called The Looking Glass Self. Simply put, from my perspective, this theory states that people can become what other’s see them as — in effect become a product of other’s expectations. Even the most complex of personalities can be thought of as a faceted diamond, with each facet the cut of yet another person’s view of oneself.

This theory fascinated me and fascinates me to this day. In fact, I even have a weblog domain called Mirror Self (www.mirrorself.com), that I thought I would use for something some day. (Come to think of it, the domain screams weblog, doesn’t it?)

From a weblogging perspective, I am concerned that my weblog can become a looking glass reflection rather than a forum for me to share thoughts, jokes, pain, happiness, and even trivia that happens to interest me. I find myself editing my posts more and more, because they “expose” more of myself, and would, perhaps, make readers uncomfortable.

Even with this trip there were things I wanted to write, to discuss, to share yet stopped because the emotions behind the same are raw, even primal, and there is a line that one approaches but does not transcend — not without sending the reader away.

At times I almost want to quit this weblog because I want to write things badly and don’t because I’m not sure myself where to draw the line of share or not share — how much of me goes into these pages?

So I have a follow up question to Mike’s: how much is too much? How much can a person share in their weblog before some line is crossed between a healthy catharsis and sharing of emotions and experiences, and a complete and uncontrolled dump of self. What’s your opinion? I really want to know.