My Digital Friends, Volume I

Hi Everyone. Sorry that it has been six days since my last post. That's really poor form on my part. So I decided that I should do something about it. I thought maybe if I start a multi-part post, then that'll keep me on the hook to post on consecutive days. So this is Volume I (of three) about my digital friends. So this one is about how Kate and I are registered blogstalkers. Volume II will provide tips on how to audit your Facebook friends to determine if they are really your friends. Volume III will have something to do with how human interaction is different with someone once you become a fan of their blog. After that I might go another six days without blogging, who knows. Anyway, here's Volume I...

Kate's affinity for blogs and bloggers has been well documented. Again, 'well documented' means that I wrote a post once about how she liked to use the little 'next blog' button at the top of the screen and randomly surf the interweb for blogs. She has sharpened her blogstalking focus recently: honing in on 50 or so blogs that she now has bookmarked and checks on a regular basis. 

Editor's Tangent: Yeah, she uses bookmarks for all of these. And there's no organization to them at all, so even the bookmark list requires scrolling. I've tried to get her to use delicious or google reader or pretty much anything other than a laundry list of bookmarks, but have not been successful. Oh, and she doesn't even bookmark the homepage - she'll bookmark the 'about me' page or something, so she'll still have to navigate to the homepage, even after finding her bookmark. I've concluded that spousal computer skills and navigation preferences are the 's/he never picks up her/his clothes' of our generation.

And were back. So she's got this list of fifty or so blogs that she checks all the time. I used to make fun of her for this. I didn't quite understand how she could pay attention to the details of a complete stranger's life. Especially since most of these are like food or healthy eating blogs. So they basically just take pictures of the food that they eat and then talk about it a little bit. There are some exceptions (if you're reading this, just assume you're one of the exceptions). And then for some reason I started reading these damn things too. I think my blogstalking picked up when Kate moved back to Indy...it was basically something else that my pen pal and I could talk about, other than the uneventful 'how was your day' conversation...especially since neither of us were doing anything too exciting at the time. So instead of 'how was your day' the conversation would start with something like 'can you believe what [insert blogger name here] ate for dinner?'

A few things to keep in mind:

1. We don't know these people. We've never met them. Probably never will.

2. Most of these bloggers are pretty ordinary. Other than the fact that they take pictures of their food, they are pretty normal. They have ordinary jobs and ordinary lives. Except you, you're an exception, remember? And we don't talk about you. 

3. Not related to 1 and 2, but I should also add that I think I'm the only man who frequents these blogs.

So our digital friends are now a major topic of conversation at our house. Instead of awkward spousal silence or picking a stupid fight for the sport of it, we'll have exchanges like this:

Kate: So when do you think [insert blogger name] and [blogger's boyfriend] are going to get married?

Me: I'm not sure. I don't think he's ready yet, and she's still in school, right? And this isn't really the best market for [boyfriend] to sell his condo.

Kate: Yeah, I guess you're right. I bet they'll get married next Spring, she seems to really like the Spring. 

Again, we've never met these people - we've just created our own little soap opera. There are also times when Kate knows what blog I'm reading because of my behavior.

Me [singing] - I had some dreams/they were clouds in my coffee/clouds in my coffee

Kate: You're reading [insert blogger name here] again, aren't you?

Me: Yep, how'd you guess?

Kate: Because you always sing Carley Simon when you read that blog. Did she post another glamour shot of herself?

Me: Yup, a blatant ass picture for no apparent reason

I'm thinking about starting a new blog where I'm some sort of food blog critic. I'd channel this (unhealthy) obsession and do a daily roundup of what all of the food bloggers are writing about on a given day. Sort of like Perez Hilton but without the inappropriate doodles or actual celebrities. 

I think it's a good idea, but since I'm currently lacking the motivation to keep one blog up and running, it's probably not the best idea to start another.

Stay tuned for Volume II tomorrow (or whenever I get around to it). It'll have something to do with auditing your Facebook friend list. Should be fun. Oh, and Volume III is about the bloggers that I know and how reading a friend's blog changes your interaction with that person. So if you're a blogger and you're reading this, you'll have to stay tuned for Volume III. In other news, don't the Roman Numerals make this multi-part post seem like a big deal? Yeah, I thought so too.