Monday Meme: Why Do I Blog?

Strawberry has some questions for all of our bloggers out there, which boils down to the whys and whats of what we all do. I'm an inveterate navel gazer, so I'll cling to any excuse to blather on ad nauseam about what, why, and how I do things. I hope you enjoy!

1. How long have you been blogging? I am about to hit my forth anniversary, though I never actually remember to mark it, on this blog. Before this blog, I had a brief journal on my Gaia Online account which detailed regular arguments I made in the Morality and Religion Forum, and before that I had journals on Journalfen and Livejournal - four on the latter - each for various purposes. My first Lifejournal post was on May 4, 2003, which seems an awfully long time ago now, so that means I'm coming up on my ten-year, non-location-consistent anniversary.


2. Why did you start blogging? All my friends were. A whole bunch of us offline friends began on Livejournal to keep in touch and share news. At that point I had an office-based job, so it was a lot easier to post several times a week. Now I do all of my pictures and blogging in the evening, often after long days, so I blog less frequently.


3. How many times a week do you post an entry? Probably - times a week, though for special events - like the current Fantasy Faire - I will blog as often as several times a day. When I combine Fantasy Faire, two challenges, and memes like this, I end up being a very busy girl.


4. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis? Tons. I have all of the Second Life related ones on my blogroll, and I have a ton more blogs on my Smartphone which I read during the day when I have snatches of time. My interests are eclectic, but they tend toward the social justice and geeky side of things.


5. Do you comment on other people’s blogs? Depends on the blog. I have a few I comment on semi-regularly, but I don't feel like a "regular" anywhere. I often feel at a loss to comment on Second Life Fashion blogs; I'm more of an ideas person, so I'll respond to ideas and things. I have a tendency to be sort of flighty and switch between focusing on different things on a given day, so I think that impairs my ability to settle anywhere. 


6. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Obsessively. Well, not obsessively, but when I publish a blogpost it's really easy to check views, and so I often do and lament the scarcity of three digit numbers. 


7. Did you ever regret a post that you wrote? Not really. I ended up changing how I do my How NOT to... series after some responses from tertiary people in the Asshole Chronicles at the bottom, including usually giving people pseudonyms, but I can't say I regret making those things public, or the loss of acquaintanceship which resulted. 




8. Do you think your readers have a true sense of who you are based on your blog? Probably. I feel like I'm pretty consistent, even over time. Reading some of my initial Livejournal posts, I have a lot of the same tics, the same obsession with understanding things and picking them apart, and the same sometimes nasty sense of fairplay. I would suspect I see myself less clearly than other people see me, though; like most people, I imagine I focus on the details I particularly like or dislike and miss the forest for the trees.


9. Do you blog under your real name? No, and I never have. I have a consistent and longstanding online identity, and I do everything online under that. I have recently been considering beginning a second persistent pseudonym for a specific purpose (not related to Second Life) but I've been dragging my feet because I feel a very real connection to Deoridhe, and it would be weird to go by any other name online.


10. Are there topics that you would never blog about? I try to be as obscure as I can about my physical location, and I have some interests that I would tend to be less than forthcoming about. I've also had a fairly strict no nudity tradition both on the blog and on my flickr, and I doubt that will ever change. I also tend to not blog about things I simply dislike; everything on this blog is something I like at least part of, even if I might have critiques. 


11. What is the theme/topic of your blog? Second Life photography and experiences, peppered with occasional extra-Second Life themes. I don't consider myself a fashion blog, but I do receive reviews from people who like my pictures of their stuff. 


12. Do you have more than one blog? If so, why? Not really. I have a few different places still open, but I don't have time for regular posting to more than one place. If I had a low-demand office job it might be easier to keep up with multiple blogs, but as it is I often feel like I don't even keep up with this one.


13. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging? Getting free stuff has actually helped me broaden out what I can buy; I still spend a lot in Second Life, but it's expanded by the gifts from wonderful people. I also sometimes get feedback on my pictures and thoughts, which I find very valuable. I have discovered I'm unexpectedly sensitive to critique on it which seems tangential, though; I have cried on a few occasions as a result of blog-related things. I think I'm getting better at pictures as a result of taking more of them, and I'm finding watching myself want things and respond emotionally as a result of the blog very interesting in terms of learning about all my secret dark crannies and personality flaws. 


14. So, why do you continue to blog? I really like the growing sense that I'm getting to know people better through it. I'm learning a lot, and that's very valuable. Also, it's nice to have a place to comment on pictures or just brain dump some of the things I think about during the day. It's also a place for me to try to focus as much as I can on the positive and on beauty, and to try to make a little beauty of my own. 

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Candace - Ceredil (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Realism Eyes - FlamingCircuits (promotional item)
Ears: De La Soul, MESHear - Animale Long (promotional item)
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Silent Star - Shine Rose
Hair: Analog Dog, Culprit
Butterflies: Boom, Metamorphisis
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Blue Blood, Tears
Jewelry 1: Primalot, Fairy Dust
Jewelry 2: Ginza, Slice of Summer
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Nails: A:S:S, Lustre
Shoes: Eclectica, Hollywood Shoes

Poses: Adorkable Poses

Location: Betty Tureauds - The 9 At Planets
Light Settings: Phototools - Dead End
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only