Sunday, September 25, 2005

ARRGH! How dare you, Blogger!

Oh that's RICH. I get some Deep Thoughts in my Blogger editing tool, and for the very first time since I started this, the damn thing craps out on me - I get a page-error and back up and the words are all gone.

Wise, wonderful words.

No wonder people write this stuff in Word or notepad or whatever and then cut/paste. I just hadn't been bit til now!

Okay, I'll try again....

Update: How about that! It didn't eat my words after all, there they are, down below! Maybe they survived cuz I just laughed, rather than get mad, and the Karma Gods decided "oh what the heck...";-)

Guilt wise: Is blogging like parenting?

I have no kids, but I do have this (and this - when WILL Squarespace and its easy Website tool get the attention it so richly deserves?) so ... pardon me if this is old philosophizing, the thoughts are there...

It's the 21st Century version of "do we own or stuff, or does our stuff own us?"

Blogger-style.

Come on, folks, admit it - if you go more than a day or three without updating your little corner of the blogosphere, you can practically hear it wailing at you from every Net-enabled PC: "Feed me!" (Insert basso profundo voice of "Little Shop of Horrors" carnivorous plant here;-)

I have a friend who has taken to actually taking his two days away from work also away from blogging. (I can't blog at work because, well, it just wouldn't be kosher!) And when I go there, and there's nothing new, I try not to "harrumph." Cuz we all deserve, need and want our time away from these infernal PCs (I really DO want something where I can mix the two, and am still debating the cheap notebook vs. Cybook vs. Pepper Pad thoughts.)

Of course, Jake has kids, so he MUST have more important things to do with his days off than blog. But what's my excuse? Laziness? No. Nothing to say? Ask anyone who knows me - that's NOT it.

But just maybe, I want to own my blog rather than the other way around.

It reminds me of what happens in journalism ( and probably every other working situation), where the little day to day stuff just slides into and out of your life like no problem, but the Big Project just sits on your noggin like a Ton O' Guilt, and is harder and harder to avoid, but also harder and harder to make any progress on, because you've made A Very Big Thing out of it, and you CAN'T just whisk that out in an hour or a day, can you?

I keep meaning to join Procrastinators Anonymous but (insert punchline here).

Anyway, one doesn't have to go all Thoreau or Gandhi to realize that the Path of More and More Stuff is inherently dissatisfying. My wife and I, we pray, are turning over a New Leaf and not sliding back into the Pit of Endless Credit.

I'm rambling. I can do this, I own this blog. It does NOT own me. On the other hand, if I want people to read it, I have to make a point ONCE in a while.

And yes, I've read some things somewhere that talk about how blogging is NOT about the reading but the writing, about putting one's voice and thoughts Out There. But come on, be honest, don't we all cry for a Gold Star on our forehead, a fervent round of applause, a simple "ya done good!" from someone whose views you admire and respect?

So maybe blogging isn't like parenting.

It's just like life. The good, the bad, and hopefully not the ugly.

Religions have been based on less;-)

Busy, in a good way

Sorry so long between posts.

Deb and I gave up trying to find a house we liked in Bend (more than our own) for anything CLOSE to what we could afford.

Instead, we did what I bet a lot of folks are doing - a refinance, to get the equity out (after just three years - such a boomtown, why not take advantage?) and put it into both paying off bills and upgrading the house - new, more energy-effieicent appliance, a new computer for Yours Truly, etc.

We're also in need of (finally) putting in a backyard fence, and are eyeing some remodeling in both the kitchen and the master bath. All that'll boost this place's resale value - that is, if we can ever find another place we can afford that we like;-)