Velveteen Mind

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.

Rain is tapping at my window on this lovely Sunday morning.  The air smells clean.  My mind is clear.  And I am thinking of you.  Our day has yet to begin, so I enjoy this luxury.

More specifically, I am thinking of the subject of accessibility.

Most specifically, I am pondering my email inbox and this lovely blog's comments sections (tongue firmly planted in cheek, thank you) and I would like to ask you a question:

Do you, as bloggers, reply to comments via email or within the comments section itself or both?

Generally speaking.  I know there are exceptions to either preference.

I used to email everyone back, however I felt it made it look like I ignored my comments.  Then I tried responding with comments of my own on specific posts, but that was just messy.  Plus, I rarely go back to see if anyone has replied to comments I leave on other blogs.

Finally, I tried responding to comments with comments of my own and then emailed those commenters to check for the published reply.

Yeah.  Um, no.  That was crazy.  Though probably the most effective.

ProBlogger has a great article on accessibility as a blogger, by the way.  But it still left me with questions.  That's why I am coming to you.

For reasons that I will gladly share with you soon, I have been discussing the topic of iconic bloggers lately with a handful of fairly iconic blogger friends.  The fact that I have access to these people is both laughable and a result of my not thinking of them as "iconic." 

What never fails is that the "big name blogger" with whom I am speaking always thinks that one of the other "big name bloggers" with whom I am speaking is the real deal, while they are just a fraud to be outed as such at the next turn.

Celebrity is perception.  Online celebrity is virtual perception. 

All of it is fleeting.  All of it is surreal.  All of it is laughable.

We would do well by ourselves to laugh.  We would do well by ourselves to let it go.  We would do well by ourselves to just keep writing...  and reading...  and sharing.

Which brings me back to the notion of accessibility.  I am a mom, at home with my boys, reaching out and releasing some brain waves through the internet.  I tend to talk to you about non-poop-related stuff because I live poop-related stuff.    Rather, I talk to you about the stuff that I can not talk to my toddlers about.  Or, at least, I talk to you about stuff about which I get unsatisfactory responses from my toddlers.

But occasionally I wonder if you feel like I'm talking at you rather than with you.  Because of the comments question I asked above. 

You see...

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.

I am the walrus.

My son would then ask, "So, what color are you?  What do you eat?  Do you go to school?  Do you like Buzz Lightyear?  Can you tell me a story?"

Purple.  Apricots.  Yes.  Absolutely.  Always.

But I would also like to hear your response. 

Do you get caught up in the "celebrity" status of some bloggers and feel like you wouldn't be noticed if you did comment?  Do you inadvertently appear to be a blog-snob yourself because you have yet to master the art of replying to comments?

What defines "accessibility" when it comes to bloggers?

How accessible are you?  How do you respond to comments?

Am I taking these questions too seriously?  Do you even care?

If you are not a blogger, I am quite sure you do not care.  In which case, my apologies.  We are quite full of ourselves and our minutiae, no?

Goo goo g'joob.

 

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What do you have on *your* plate?

I received no less than three emails today from unrelated people saying more or less the same thing:

"You know the [fill in the name of project here] we discussed?  We need to move forward on that soon.  Hello?"

Look people, in case you haven't caught on, yet, I will say "yes" to anything.  Want me to write for your site?  Sure, send me the access code!  Want me to help you redesign your blog even though I have no design skills?  Absolutely, let's brainstorm!  Want me to give birth to your baby?  No problem, I shoot 'em out like a bazooka.

Okay, I'm actually a little more picky than that, but you get the idea.

Inevitably, however, some things slip through the cracks.  Conference calls, for instance.  Um, could you all just call me?  Yeah, the entire conference.  You call me as a group.  No?  That's not the way it works?  Humpf.

Wait, you wanted that contract signed?  I still haven't unpacked my printer.  Could you just sort of forge my signature?  This email can serve as my permission for you to do so.  What?  Legal who?  Grrrrr.

Who is supposed to pay taxes again?  I think I paid those last year.  What?  Every year?  Um, let me get back to you on that one.

What do you mean you haven't eaten lunch today?  Didn't your 20 month old brother prepare a nutritious meal for you from the one cabinet he can reach?  What?  It only had an empty box of cereal in it and an old cereal bar wrapper?  Didn't you go grocery shopping, my dear sweet 3 year old?  What exactly do you think that tricycle is for, kid?

Maybe I am exaggerating a bit.  But that's how it feels sometimes.

...Good God... (rereading this post so far...)

I think I've just written a textbook mommyblog post.

I am Mommyblogger.  Hear me snore!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A post about overextending myself.  Huh.  That's original.

Did I mention I've only been sleeping three hours a night?  Not for lack of trying, either.  And I was actually entertaining the idea of having a third child.  I am one cah-ray-zee lady.

So, consider this my open letter to all of you to whom I have made promises since signing back online in March.  I have received your emails.  I have received your calls.  I have received your contracts.  I have received your psychic messages wishing me focus and drive and the ability to follow-through.  I hear you.

I'm on it.  And I really do mean that.  I meant it when I said I wanted to [fill in whatever it is that I said I wanted to do].  I've just gotten a little distracted. 

But now?  I'm on it.

Right after I take a nap.
Love,
Megan

PS-- This whole over-extending ourselves thing?  That is precisely why I have begun the launch of Blog Nosh Magazine.  I want to reward all of us for keeping something of value on our own blogs.   Even if that means writing something brilliant that only your audience of 20 will read.

That's where Blog Nosh Magazine will come in.  Make it good.  Make it solid.  Make it for yourself.  We'll help you find the audience.  Just do it for you, first and foremost.

That's why I overextend myself.  At the end of the day, I get something of great value out of every single project to which I commit, even if that something is helping others. 

It is just that today was one of those really long days.

And I could have sworn it was Friday.

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Who's Afraid of the Queen of Spain?

I am afraid of the Queen of Spain.

I read her blog.  I follow her on Twitter.  I hunt her down as Erin Kotecki Vest on Huffington Post.  I watch her many video blogging experiments.  Hell, I even guest blogged at her place.  I am down with the Queen of Spain.

And yet she makes me a little nervous.  She has a bit of a bold streak.  And by bold, I mean she has a seriously foul mouth, will attack your mother's uncle, has no problem with threats of public nudity, and can politic you under the table so you had better know your conservatives from your liberals less you are prepared to look like George Bush on his least focused day.

That's putting it nicely. 

I love her.  I also respect her.

Yet writing this post is making me pee a little.

Queen of Spain (or any of you political pundit moms, for that matter), I want to weigh in on our current presidential election but I have some questions.  I want to ask questions.  For instance, am I supposed to capitalize "presidential?"  No, really, I have serious questions.

I am still only developing my political opinions and I don't want to look like an idiot, but you have me quaking in my boots sandals.

I believe the word is cowed.

I'm not looking to be an expert.  I'm not going to be joining MOMocrats anytime soon.  By the way, is there even an equivalent for Republican mom bloggers?  I can't find any Republican mom bloggers within the blogs I already read.  This is like the time I realized that a significant portion of my readers and favorite bloggers were Mormons.

I'm trying to form an educated opinion, make a well-informed decision.

And, oh yeah, finally register to vote. 

When I first shared with you all that I have never voted before, I meant it sort of as an interesting little aside in my 100 Things 100th post.  That should demonstrate to you how naive I am when it comes to politics.  I never expected the chastising responses.   Yet, I welcomed them.

I know I should have voted by now.  I have not yet voted because I have never been interested enough to commit to an opinion.  Seriously, if it wasn't about Ronald Reagan (my childhood favorite president, having nothing to do with political affiliation), I wasn't listening.

Example:  A friend of mine told me that he would be clerking for [insert name of Supreme Court Justice here] and my response was, "That's great.  Hey, have you talked to [insert name of non-Supreme Court Justice college friend here] lately?"

I had no idea who he was talking about.  Smooth.

But I am listening now.  Unfortunately for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (I had to double check how to spell both of those names), I am mostly listening to Glenn Beck.  And I'm not a fan of John McCain.

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are more opinions out there.  And I am thoroughly interested in the opinions of other parents because we are the ones guiding the political candidates of the future.  We are the ones raising future taxpayers.  Our influence is important.

Just do me a favor?  Don't jump all over my bare butt hanging out when I start asking questions.  Don't try to pin me to one political party, because I don't own any lapel pins, yet. 

I have found a bit of velveteen in my mind that hasn't been worn threadbare and I'm ready to start picking it apart.

Care to join me?

*********

Related posts:

Glenn Beck's Responsibility Beat-Down.  I'm in.

Obligatory 100 Things About Me.  Sex, Drugs, and Satan Detectors.

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