What Do You Want?

why are you self-obsessed?

I think you once told me, in your hallway no less, about the not-so surprising internationally acclaimed bra-less post. (funnily enough it happens to be the one random photo up while I write this)

http://meganbutcher.com/blog/Stats_and_Sex

humm.. that reminds me, I should really put a label on "Olympic women's beach volleyball"....

The couple of years that I've been reading your blog have shown me some of the things that captivate you:

Your friends
Your body
Your pain
Kindness
Sex

That seems like a pretty good mix. It seems you've got the personal reflection part down pretty pat... but I'd like to see more reflexivity in your posts placing things in the broader context of your friends / community / society / world.

Good luck!

With the exception of setting up a webcam for such a thing, how can you share anything more intimate about yourself than your (in)famous "poon watch"? ;-)

I think that is the key though. Write about what captivates and interests you and it'll show through in your writing quality with the passion of your words.

If you just happen to be a narcissist, then write about yourself. That will just make us readers your shameless voyeurs! ;-)

In that vein, thong vs. g-string vs. other, what's your preference? ;-)

And if that fails, take up cat blogging it worked for the Irregulars to fill in a lull a few months back.

I want to see a comparative study of your boobs with and without various bras ... oh wait.

I want regular poon updates ... er, check, I guess.

I'd like to get scintillating tidbits of porn. Right-o.

Nope, can't think of anything else! Well played.

The sex stuff and body updates are very fun and educational, but I am a dedicated reader because of the relationship ups and downs. You're so honest and direct about it all. I find it all EXTREMELY relatable, and your posts have helped put a lot of my own crap into perspective.

Knowing someone else feels extreme pain and joy like I do makes it all more manageable in my own heart. And a lot less scary.

you all are great, thank you.

You know, I have thought a lot about this since you posted it. And I think that the truth is that I don't actually like many blogs (present company excluded, but then your blog has become an effective way for me to keep up with you, so it functions more like a one-way letter exchange than a blog per se). I have not read a blog that made me want to start a blog. That is some kind of litmus test.

Outside of the very personal reaction that I have to your blog, your link to the "good blog" piece made me think about blogging and other forms of writing. I think that the author overlooks the importance of artifice, or, as it is called nowadays, art. Obsession (and especially a weird obsession) covers a lot of sins in writing, because it gives a topic an urgency that it might not otherwise hold. Yes, this can be interesting. But is it art? No. And while freaks of nature always command attention, there is something unsavory and unsettling about always watching out for them - as if in our normal course of imaginative life we couldn't satisfy our desire for novelty, as if the human cost (to the obsessed and to the observer) of indulging in freakiness (or weird obsession) were a reasonable exchange for a couple of minutes of entertainment.

Artifice is underrated. Take a disagreeable position and defend it - not a bad starting point for exploring how far one's own ideas are based on the rational or the irrational. Then write something that explores both perspectives (fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, whatever). Or, using detached irony, write a piece that pilories the oposing viewpoint by seeming to indulge it. The latter tactic is one that you use extremely effectively in some of your posts. The pergola posts, for example. Obsession too often is unidimensional. Art is complex.

So, what do I want? I am a fan of artifice. But I also value reading your blog to understand you as an individual, including your obsessions, minor and major. What do you want? Do you want a blog that transcends the personal? More art. But, for this reader, I think that you already get the mix right.