Saturday, September 19, 2009

Blogging: We're going to need more monkeys (Repost)

What is your blog about?

Assuming you have a blog, how often have you been asked that question? My answer usually goes something like this: "Um, well, that's sort of hard to explain. It's sort of like talking to me, without so many random obscure references to subjects we're not even discussing.

Also, while writing, I'm not distracted by blank stares or someone constantly interrupting with questions pertaining to what on God's green earth I'm talking about. Seriously, my blog is about about thoughts and commentary from my ADD mind. At least, that's how it started out. But I was reading an old book by Robert Fulghum called "It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It" that sums it up much better in the introduction:

Show and Tell was the very best part of school for me, as a student and as a teacher. Not recess or lunch, but that special time set aside each week for students to bring something important to class to share and talk about.

As a kid, I put more into getting ready for my turn to present than I put into the rest of my homework. Show-and-Tell was real in a way that much of what I learned in school was not. It was education that came out of my life experience. And there weren't a lot of rules about Show-and-Tell -- you could do your thing without getting red-penciled or gonged to your seat.

As a teacher, I was always surprised by what I learned from these amateur hours. A kid I was sure I knew well would reach down into the paper bag he carried and fish out some odd-shaped treasure and attach meaning to it beyond my most extravagant expectation. It was me, the teacher, who was being taught at such moments.

Again and again I learned that what I thought was only true to me...only valued by me...only cared about by me...was common property.

Show-and-Tell was a bit disorderly and unpredictable. What the presentations lacked in conventional structure was compensated for by passion for the subject at hand.

The principles guiding this [blog] are not far from the spirit of Show-and-Tell. It is my stuff from home -- that place in my mind and heart where I most truly live.


And so, to my old friends and new; to my lurkers and my prolific commenters; to those of you whose blogs I read on a regular basis and others I check in on from time to time -- Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to share my stuff and for sharing your stuff with me. Thank you for allowing me to be silly, sarcastic, serious, sappy, self-righteous, and a bunch of other "S" words. I'm a better writer, listener and dare I say better person for the experience.

This is not a "Goodbye Hey Look a Chicken" post. Just a "Thanks for the Memories So Far" post.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I probably fall under the lurker category. I came about your blog via Billy Cofey's blog.

I really enjoy reading your random thoughts, as it at times put my own random thoughts to rest a bit.

Thanks for it, and please, never stop.

bman said...

You're awesome! We love your randomness because it makes the rest of us seem all that much more normal... wait. No, yeah, that's what I meant.

Doug Spurling said...

Sometimes I don't get you.But that's just me. You make me laugh; think; and say, "what in the world is she talking about."
But under that clown make-up you're a deep sensitive loving person, I appreciate that. I think God thinks your funny and He likes it.

Doug Spurling said...

Oh I forgot to say. Thank YOU.

Helen said...

Kathy, you are unpredictable, and I LOVE that about you. Through your blog (and twitter) I feel I have gotten to know you as a person. I love you, friend! (Completely platonic, of course. Please don't unfollow...)

Billy Coffey said...

LOVE that passage by Fulghum.

I never know what I'm going to find here, which is why I keep coming back. You're a very multi-faceted lady, which is a nice way of saying that I secretly believe you may well be a bit schizophrenic.

Anonymous said...

For someone with OCD and a need for things to be 'just right', reading your random thoughts (with purpose) has been an awesome experience.
I love this:
Show-and-Tell was a bit disorderly and unpredictable. What the presentations lacked in conventional structure was compensated for by passion for the subject at hand.

Disorderly and unpredictable is what makes life interesting, and I'd like to think I'm growing as a person and a writer by taking these lessons (words) to heart.

Thanks Kathy, for being all the 'S' words and more!

Ginny (MAD21) said...

I, too, love your blog. I love your random thoughts, funnies, and also the passion with which you write. Please don't ever stop.

katdish said...

Thank you all so much for your kind comments (except for Billy Coffey - who is once again, dead to me).

And in conclusion, I would just like to say...

(That just NEVER gets old!)

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

I love that!
Lindsey read something (probably a facebook flair) the other day that said, "I'm not random; I just have a lot of thoughts!" :)

It's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get!