Morning yoga in Millenium Park, Chicago.
So, you're probably getting really, really tired reading about BlogHer 2009, right? Unless, you happen to be one of my IRL friends (who just recently have been "friend-ing me" on Facebook, like crazy, all of a sudden and are all like, "SO THIS IS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN HIDING," here, all the time) then, all this talk about blogging conferences, swag hags and stuff is going to sound really, really weird.
First, check out BlogHer IRL – Part One
(if, you'd like) because, I posted some really pretty pictures of my
time in Chicago. Also, it will bring my IRL friends up to speed on why I go to
these type of things and, well, to be real honest with you, my hair
looks really, really good, too.
[stretch]
Then, go over and read some thoughts on BlogHer'09 from one of the founders, because she is way smarter than me.
My take?
Blogging, like yoga, is an exercise in patience and self-awareness — it helps to keep an open mind and listen to your body; especially, when it starts hollering stuff like:
"This so does NOT feel good, right now!"
So, there's this thing about the PR Blackout Challenge and Blog With Integrity (pretty badge on left) but, go figure, it took a work-at-home dad to reaffirm the fact that I also Blog for Peace not Swag (even prettier badge on right) still, everyone seems to be getting all sorts of mad and confused.
"STOPIT!"
Yeah, I don't get this whole mom bloggers…marketing executives…and pr people…OH MY…they ARE the devil…sort of thing, either.
No one has ever, never, twisted my arm to write about anything I did NOT want to, seriously and, as long as I have access to a "delete" or "edit" button, I'm good.
Frankly, I don't want my IRL friends to get the wrong idea. This, right here, is not what I do for a living. This is where I go (oh, and here too) for the last 6 years, to write. For me. So, hopefully, one day, my kids realize that, you know, mommy had her own set of issues to deal with, too.
Then, I lost about 2 years worth of writing — because, I'm talented like that — moving from here, to here, to here (see, broken links, no content, gone, fuhcotta) and then, I parked my butt right back here and became a dot com.
Weird, right?
Anyway, I started getting to know all sorts of really cool people online (old school blogging at it's very best) and then the kids started growing up and, you know, still needed me to teach them stuff (parenting doesn't stop after full-day kindergarten, btw) and I found myself turning to my internet friends, more and more, since I was pretty much guaranteed at least a hundred different opinions, on everything from parenting while under the influence of children and just where in the heck DO all those missing socks go, anyways?
Um, okay, sorry, I lose track sometimes…um…okay, so then I started another blog to help families (like mine) figure out stuff, like just what in the heck all those cryptic game rating symbols really mean and my kids love to tell their friends stuff, like:
"My mom is a blogger, we were in a commercial and SHE got to meet Jack Sparrow!"
That's where things get a little weirder — okay, I did NOT actually get to meet Johnny Depp, just his stunt double — people seemed to actually really want hear what I had to say about stuff, like blogging about the type of socks we buy, much to the amazement of my family and IRL friends…me, too.
Why?
Well, if you saw a dinosaur, say walking down 5th Avenue in NYC, wouldn't you want to know what it was doing there, let alone, how in the heck it managed to survive, this long, in the first place!?!?
Okay, so that pretty much explains why I don't do this for a living, right?
Still, there are folks out there (something like 6 bazillion, at last count, I think) who believe that there MUST BE other reasons, more sinister and a lot more annoying (if you could imagine) than being a mom (like me) blogging about stuff, other than rainbows, glitter glue and poopie diapers.
I mean, FTC forbid someone (like me) would actually have something to say, with nothing up my sleeve, other than good intentions, no matter how much free stuff people seem to keep wanting to throw at me, or how long it takes, you know, for me to keep saying it.
[wrapping it up, now]
Hopefully, this is nothing that my friends and readers don't already know. I live to write (not host giveaways) however, giving back to the community, online and IRL…well, it's how we roll:
"This Full House you just raised $5,000 for the Ronald McDonald House, what are you going to do now?"
Waiting to see how long it takes for folks like the Wall Street Journal to pick up on the fact that there are moms who are actually trying to do some really good things with their blogs.
Not going to hold my breath, for too long, though.
My biggest regret?
Not hugging Mir (Woulda Coulda Shoulda) IRL, when I had the chance, DAMMIT!
Edited to Add: Received an email from a reader (thank you for taking the time, June!) and I hope that you did not misunderstand my rant for anything other than asking traditional media to consider that there are plenty of reasons why (other than getting stuff) that people (especially, moms like me) blog and, yes, I really do think that kindness is very much underrated these days.
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