6KCBWDAY2 | A little bit me, a little bit you, too

6KCBWDAY2

[su_box title=”Day Two: It’s All About You.” style=”soft” box_color=”#5a889e” radius=”5″]Cast your hooks and needles aside! This year you are challenged with one of those tasks that some bloggers can find quite daunting: but there’s never a better time then when we’re all in it together, so let’s shift the focus and turn the attention from the things we make to the things that make us.

Enjoy talking about you.

6KCBWDAY2

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Historic evidence suggests that I am not exactly backward at coming forwards. Let’s face it, I have been blogging almost since the term (We)blog was coined. No, really, seriously – I had a Livejournal  that I can definitely date from 2002. Well, when I say “a” Livejournal, I actually mean several (one of the things that you need to know about me is that I worked as a professional administrator and have  a tidy mind – I need to keep separate boxes for different classes of Stuff.)  Prior to that I was keeping an on-line diary in HTML form, typed long-hand into Notepad.

My first personal web site was built in, I think, 1994 when I had a Demon account (evidence exists of activity in 1997 and in 2000, I was writing about Suzie coming to live with us and this domain was captured by the WayBack Machine as early as mid-2004).   I later dabbled with Blogger (but not for long, what a  horrible medium) and have had numerous WordPress blogs, both .org and .com, since WordPress was in Beta (2003). Recently I added Koken to my blogging environments.

I have blogged singly as myself, jointly with like minds  and I have even  blogged as fictional characters[1. Nope. NOT as weird as it sounds but in fact an exercise in Character Development recommended by my writing teacher. That would be fictional character, not self-character. I like to think that my personal character is well enough developed already…] . Most of what might be said about me has already been said.

In short, I might rightly claim to be an escribitionist.

I find it interesting that  it is easy for me to lay myself bare in writing and yet you will almost never find me on the wrong end of a camera, this image is a great exception.

Your blogger, at your service
Your blogger, at your service

I enjoy writing.  I have always written. I have never had difficulty in setting pen to paper and writer’s block is unknown to me. It has never mattered what that writing be: school “composition”; academic essays of several thousand words; administrative and research reports of several hundred pages – it all simply flows.  Or did –  it has been a long time since I wrote anything  that required precision.

Now I just write drivel and this rubbish simply wells out of me. Now and again I take time out and make a real effort to write well, to write properly. I have done some study in the area of creative writing and a part of me would like to produce Fiction or Poetry to a reasonable standard. I try. I do try. Yet I always revert to this chatty nonsense.  Lengthy chatty nonsense. All the same I periodically promise myself that tomorrow will be the day when my blog post consists of a simple Haiku.

A few pens and some different inks. I have more.
A few pens and some different inks. I have more.

That kind of writing does seem to come more easily to me when I use analogue methods – good old pen and ink and oh, my goodness, don’t I have a pen and ink problem. Well, not just pen and ink but also paper and all forms of stationery. I just love stationery. Cannot get enough of it!

Some of my ink bottles - the cartridges are another collection
Some of my ink bottles – the cartridges are another collection

I do not know who it is that I am talking to –  and in recent years it seems increasingly to be the case that Nobody Is There. That does not matter. I have always done this diary stuff for myself. It is my way of getting my thinking straight, I just like to write it as though it were a letter to a friend and historically that was what my blogging was all about – keeping friends up to date with my happenings once I had moved so far away. If others wish to read it, they are welcome to but if nobody does, that matters not at all.  All the same, if I give you a window into my world would it not be nice if you stopped to wave through that window and pass the time of day with me?

The whole point of a blog is that we are in this thing together; it is a little bit of me, plus a little bit of you. Pressing a FB Like button just does not cut the blog mustard.

You know where the Comments section is. Use it. Let’s talk. Promise me an address and I might even send you a proper pen and ink letter. Wouldn’t that be a thing?

Leave a Comment wherever you go this KCBW, let the blogger know that you have been and that you stayed and that you read –  perhaps even enjoyed your stay. I promise you that every single one of them will appreciate that you did so.

Read more on this topic from other knitters and crocheters

24 Comments

  1. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    What a great post! I really enjoy writing but I find it difficult to find the time. In my day job I find myself doing a lot of writing and so often I prefer not to in my me-time. I completely agree about the need for discussion though as I really think it helps stimulate me to be a better writer if I know what I am writing is appreciated (or at least being read!)
    H.

    • May 12, 2015
      Reply

      Thanks for stopping by, H. and thank you for your comments, much appreciated. I really miss the days when blogs had long comment threads. Facebook has really killed the blog, I believe and folks are so lazy these days, just clicking Like (whether they mean it or not?) and moving on. In the old days, real relationships were built in blogland and lifelong friends were made. FB has really diluted the concept of friendship, in my opinion. Then again, perhaps I am simply an old fogey and not moving with the times.

  2. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    Great post! It’s always thrilling to get comments on my blog, to know that someone is interested and to help me know what people like to read about. I don’t mind if no one reads but it’s lovely when they do.

  3. spinninggill
    May 12, 2015
    Reply

    I always click the WP ‘like’ button to show that I have read the blog – I, unlike you, normally have writer’s block! 🙂

    • May 12, 2015
      Reply

      It is my belief that there is no attendance register. Readers read what they wish, when they can, if they want to. The Like button I believe is for use when something really strikes a chord – but that then surely begs a comment to expand on that… what was it that spoke to the reader, what do they agree with, what do they disagree with etc. It’s rather like in the old Usenet days when folks would simply write “AOL” as a skit on AOL users, who rarely added anything other than “Me too”

    • May 12, 2015
      Reply

      Re the Writer’s Block – it’s widely accepted that practice is what’s needed, the more one writes, the easier it becomes. But what would I know, I have writer’s diarrhoea 🙂

  4. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    Great post! As a new blogger, I appreciate comments so much and that feeling that I’m not just talking to myself!

    • May 12, 2015
      Reply

      Oh, yes – “It’s good to talk”

      Thank you for your visit. I’ll repay it soon

  5. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    I’m here, I’m reading and I’m glad that through this KCBW I’ve found your blog. It’s true about comments, it’s great to know it’s a two way conversation and not just a one sided steady stream of consciousness. That’s one reason why I’m taking part in the blog week – to meet people wanting to have a dialogue about a subject we all enjoy!

  6. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    Thanks for reading, Gill. I’m not sure I can cope with two Gills in one place though – especially as this WP template does not appear to thread comments! I shall have to seek a new one out quickly, I think

    • May 12, 2015
      Reply

      I can be Gillian if that’s easier!

  7. May 12, 2015
    Reply

    Excellent post! My favorite part of KCBW, besides the creative inspiration, is finding new blogs to follow and new people to connect with.

  8. tried to post yesterday but my computer was acting out. wow, since 2002 – that is impressive. I agree that even if Nobody is There blogging is still awesome, and some of us are here. Great to meet you via this
    week long challenge.

  9. May 13, 2015
    Reply

    Great post…love the ending…I haven’t written in awhile, but I did post a previously written poem on my blog today….also aren’t snail mail letters the best? I used to write to about 30 penpals..I’m still in touch with one in Norway and am going to meet her this summer…we’ve been writing since about 1984…and I have all of my letters still….

  10. May 13, 2015
    Reply

    Escribitionist! I love it!! What a fun post to read. I also am doing the KCBW and loving it. This is my first one. I am a fairly prolific blogger as well, but you wouldn’t know it by my latest venture because it’s new. I will post a link here because your comment feed doesn’t allow me name/url – you might want to fix that to make it easy for people to link you up with them.

    http://myartfulabundantlife.com/2015/05/13/knitting-crocheting-blog-week-2015-day-3/

    Good stuff here. Looking forward to reading more. Doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere!

    • May 14, 2015
      Reply

      Hi, Amy and thanks for visiting and commenting. I can’t imagine why you could not leave your URL – it’s the standard WP Jetpack comment form and I have implemented no additional security measures because I believe it should be easy for readers to leave comments. I tried it out from a logged out browser just to verify what I am saying and it worked perfectly for me. It is mystifying.

    • May 14, 2015
      Reply

      What I should have added to my last comments is that I have had the same experience at other blogs and now wonder if it’s a bug in the form itself. Perhaps worth reporting to WP Support.

  11. Oh, I get your love for stationery! I have that one as well – as well as a love for all other things that can be put onto a desk. Preferably vintage, please… I just completed my set of vintage puncher, stapler & tape dispenser and am still giddy with excitment every day when I see it 🙂

    • May 14, 2015
      Reply

      and I get the vintage thing too! Sadly I never had any success at bidding for items I wanted on eBay – I longed for a Bakelite rocker blotter and tried for years to score one at an affordable price. I keep my ink bottles on a vintage glass tray from a dressing table set I did manage to win. It’s perfect for the job.

  12. May 14, 2015
    Reply

    Gah! How could I have forgotten it was knit and crochet blog week, even after your reminder last week?
    I always struggle with how much of myself to reveal online and end up writing either the banal or nothing at all. I rather envy your easy, discursive style.
    We had a lot of fun working on the puzzles last week. Thank you

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