Posts Tagged ‘blogs’

Do people read blogs anymore? I mean, I guess they do, but do people read my blog anymore? I sometimes feel as though there’s not really a point to it anymore. Unless it’s on Facebook or Twitter, no one really seems to care these days. And that’s fine, I get it, I’ve moved on myself. Maybe we were never as interested in what other people had to say in the first place and were just dying to have them cut it down to 140 characters or less. Maybe all we wanted to do was tag other people in photos of ourselves so they’d come gaze upon our awesome selves. Who knows?

I look back on my Livejournal, which I actively used from 2005 to 2008, and it’s a pretty accurate documenting of my entire life for that period. I’m not sure what makes every other blogging platform I’ve used since shutting that down to the public so much less effective. I suppose it may dovetail with my adoption of Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Maybe it has to do with the loss of Livejournal’s “community” aspect. I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t think what I have to say or do is as interesting anymore on a day-to-day basis. Of course, if that were the case, why would I have updated my Twitter status more than 23,000 times since late 2008?

On the flip side, I’ve noticed my Google Reader, which I use to regularly peruse my favorite blogs and webcomics, doesn’t fill up as fast as it used to. In general, people seem to be blogging far less frequently, and I know I’ve unsubscribed to a number of blogs as time has passed, mainly because I realized I wasn’t ever reading them, either for lack of time or lack of interest.

This isn’t news, of course. A casual web search for “blogging is dead” will return a large number of articles and, ironically, of course, blog posts about the subject. But for me, it leads me to wonder “what’s next?” For a society that seems so obsessed with knowing what everyone is doing at every moment, we seem far less concerned with what those people are actually thinking or feeling. Does this paradigm shift speak to a larger societal issue, that of our dwindling compassion for others? Our collective shrinking attention span? Our inability to invest in anything outside of Lost and reality TV?

Or maybe we’re just bored with blogs. Carry on.

I don’t typically get too personal on this here bloggy-blog, as I have enough creepy stalkers out there (all of whom I love and appreciate, of course), but I hear you interwebs people like that sort of “I can identify with this fella because he is human like me” connection, so I’ll oblige:

On Friday, June 26, my brother Joshua and his wife Jennifer welcomed into the world their first child — a bouncing, baby boy named Zachary Benjamin.  That means your pal Pj is now AN UNCLE. Woe be to my new (first!) nephew, for I have decreed that he shall be exclusively referred to as Zack Attack! (exclamation point VERY necessary). I warned Josh over dinner a few months ago that, by choosing to name his forthcoming son Zachary, I would be forced to call him Zack Attack!. And not surprisingly, Josh was totally fine with this. He even claimed to have named Zack Attack! after the one-and-only Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell. I’m sure he was not serious, but if he was, that instantly elevates him to a level of awesome of which I can only hope to one day attain by naming my first-born “A.C.,” training him in the ways of perms and wrestling, and insisting he call his cousin exclusively by “preppy.”

In case you want to follow the exploits of Zack Attack! further, the baby has a blog somewhere out there in cyberspace (seriously, even unborn children have blogs? ZOMG). Furthermore, you may want to subscribe to Josh’s blog, “404 Error – Failure to Communicate,” in which he writes about wrestling, comic books, music and other stuff in a manner so gregarious it’s overwhelming.

Last night, as my girlfriend and I munched on veggie burgers at our tiny kitchen table, I told her about an idea for a story I wanted to pitch to one of the local alt-weeklies. It was a sound enough idea, well-thought out and though not time-sensitive, relevant in light of the current global and local economic situation.

She listened to and processed my pitch. We finished eating. A little bit later, while just chilling on the couch after dinner, she turned to me and asked, “Is there some reason you want to do that story now?” I re-delivered my reasoning from earlier. She listened, again, surprisingly patiently, and then clarified: “If the story isn’t time sensitive, why can’t you just pitch it later and focus on getting your comic book script done?”

Huh.

If anyone hasn’t figured it out yet, I have the attention span of a hummingbird. It’s nothing new, though the internet age has certainly not helped. For about the last 15 years or so, I have always juggled multiple projects in the air at once. At one point a few years ago, I was working full-time as a web content editor, going to school full-time for not one but two bachelor’s degrees, doing regular freelance writing for multiple publications and editing a twice-weekly newspaper. All at once.

I have a terrible habit of starting new projects in the middle of current ones, and sometimes leaving old ones unfinished in their wake. I have in my files at least three unfinished books and/or proposals, an in-progress screenplay or two and who knows how many broken pieces of potential articles, reviews or columns. While in the midst of a freelance deadline last week, I was also creating promotional materials and editing videos and music for my band while scheduling meetings to discuss taking on more projects … and formulating plans for that story pitch that started this whole conversation.

The girlfriend was right. I need to focus. There’s no immediate timeliness or financial burden requiring me to pitch this story right now. On the other hand, as she so kindly reminded me, San Francisco WonderCon is little more than a month away, and if there is any imaginary deadline for me to have my comic proposal together, that would absolutely be it.

In the 2005 film Les poupées russes (an adequate sequel to one of my favorite films, L’Auberge espagnole), the protagonist, Xavier, is a writer who does ghostwriting and pens pulpy romance books because these gigs pay well, but he is unsatisfied with the work, instead wishing to write earnest novels. Xavier’s grandfather tells him that if he keeps letting them, these good-paying but temporary distractions will consume his life, leaving what he truly wants out of reach. In the context of the film, it’s an allegory for the way Xavier’s led his romantic life. But the advice stands up on its own.

So while the occasional 200-word story for Six Degrees or contribution to little things such as Quips and Tips for Freelance Writers aren’t terrible time-suckers, I really need to hold steady and focus on finishing existing projects before starting new ones. Especially small ones. Before it’s too late.

And Iran ... Iran so far away

See that sexy cad in the above photo? That’s Geoff Carter. He taught me everything I know about being a man.

OK, technically that is a lie, but it wouldn’t be a terrible reality were it true. Carter is — aside from being the most naturally gifted writer and photographer I have ever had the pleasure of knowing — well-versed in music, literature, pop culture and, most relevant to this post, alcohol consumption and the places in which to engage in said imbibing.

So it’s imperative that you direct your wandering cursor to the new blog (sorry, Geoff, “bl-g”) he’s recently launched with his fellow Seattle-ite Mark Shaffer, Gritty Shaker. It’s about bars. It’s about booze. And knowing Geoff, there’ll probably be roller derby references aplenty (oh, look, there’s one!). And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll subscribe to the RSS feed pronto.