I need to remember that because I drove to work today, & I very rarely do. If you didn't know, I'm spoiled. Doug drops me off at the front door to my building & picks me up after work. It's nice that we get to spend a little more time together while we're saving money & I suppose the environment. It's also great that we're not stuck in traffic or bad weather alone, & of course it's fabulous that I can read a book or sleep if I feel the need. Ah, it's good to be Queen. But not today - Doug has a union meeting after work, & I have an appointment with Elizabeth, my sadist (read: waxer). The mere thought of that gives me a little stress, so let's change the subject.
Isn't it funny how people that you see almost every day will suddenly notice something that you've done all along? Like today, for instance. I'm wearing all black, which is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary for me. Not only is it easy, but this particular combo is very comfortable & it was clean - & clean was the deciding factor this morning. Anyway, as I was settling into my desk this morning, my pal that I talked about here came by.
My Pal: Wow...all black today, huh?
Me: Yup.
My Pal: I don't think I've seen you do that before. Are you making a statement or something?
Me: Yeah, sure. You know me - I'm the Johnny Cash of the admin world.
I suppose that even as cool as I am, it probably wasn't right to compare myself to Johnny Cash - because let's face it, he was among the coolest cats ever - but I just couldn't help myself. I hadn't had my coffee yet. My poor pal - his fellowship ends next week, & he will no longer have my sarcastic little presence in his life. He's going to miss me terribly, I just know it. Likewise.
In case you haven't guessed, this particular post really has no direction whatsoever.
My Google Reader is about to explode. It's still manageable, so that's good, but what I find fascinating is what other blogs my subscriptions attract in the "Discover" section. Not all of the blogs I read are on my blogroll, just because I don't think I need to have 49 other blogs listed. I add them to my page if I feel like it, really. Anyway, I have only 1 gardening blog, Gardening While Intoxicated, chosen because of it's clever name & witty content (ok, & because that's what I usually am when/if I get around to gardening, hence the tragic state of my once stunning rose bed), but I'm bombarded with gardening blogs. I have a couple of cooking blogs, too - no, I don't really cook, but I like the idea of it, so I like to check a few out. Poor Google, it clearly thinks I'm a chef. Google has also picked out a gaggle of soon-to-be-married or newly-married brides' blogs for me to read, & I fall into neither of those categories. Poor, misguided, & terribly gullible Google.
While those are all funny, & rather cute that Google thinks of me in such a way, the funniest showed up in the Discover section today. It was, of all things, a - brace yourself - pregnancy blog.
Criminy. I'm as childfree as they get, & while I think people should be happy about their own choice to have children (& also that they should pay for them, & a few other things that I won't go into just now), I certainly do not want to read about their gestation. Ick.
Oh well, I guess it could be worse. Google could be suggesting that I read blogs about recovery. Oh yes, that would definitely be worse. Google, don't even think about it....
22 comments:
I've made a recent discovery about Google Reader. It doesn't necessarily choose blogs based on what you already subscribe to. It chooses them based on what the people you subscribe to are subscribing to. Make sense? So if you are subscribing to people who are subscribing to wedding blogs or pregnancy blogs, those blogs are gonna pop up in your discover section.
And that's my wisdom for the day...
Wow, it makes sense, but that's disturbing, Krystal! So, if YOU subscribe to some, oh, I don't know, blogs about...PORN, then that means I would end up getting those recommendations from Google? Could be entertaining...
LOL, I never thought of it that way, but yes, I suppose that's true. Guess I could subscribe to some porn blogs and you could see what pops up on your discovery page...
I get the same problem with Google Alerts. I am on alerts for the word "childfree" (which is how I found your blog), and it once led me to a blog where the woman is depressed that she is childless after years of trying.
Of course, without exploring the blog, I chimed in (assuming she must have said she was doomed to be "childfree" somewhere in her text). I gave a positive outlook on being childfree, and said it can be a blessing in disguise (i.e. that she was infertile), because parenting these days is difficult, and having children is not the "fairytale" society makes us believe. But I also said that if she really wanted children, she could adopt, like my sister did with her three kids, and was very happy about it.
Well, you would think I damned her and her unborn child the way she and dozens of her followers lashed back at my "evil and insensitive" comments. It turns out, the woman had recently given birth to a still-born, and was almost suicidal over it. These people had been following her daily blogs of how miserable her life is childless while all of her friends have children, and how she doesn't know if life is worth living if she is unable to give birth to a child, etc.
Unfortunately, I had posted my website, which caused dozens of them to leave very mean and vindictive notes to me about how I am an evil b----, and should die for my insensitivities. They even said I was "rude" to suggest adoption! (and Why?)
I was very surprised, but saddened by the hurt I had caused this woman, so tried to apologize on her blog, but she had already blocked me out. I emailed all the women back that were attacking me (they had sent me personal emails thru my site), and begged them to tell her I was sorry and had no intention of upsetting her. There was only one woman who sided with me, and admitted the verbal assaults were way out of line.
This went on for WEEKS! And when I deleted some of the slanderous blog messages from my website, the people shot back with "how dare I erase those!" I couldn't sleep at night, and worried somebody would track me down and attack me, which caused me to open a P.O. Box, so people couldn't find me. It reminded me of that poor teenager that was verbally attacked on the internet, and committed suicide (although I wasn't that fragile!)
Finally, they all went away...(I think).
Anyway, I am writing a book called "Kidfree & Lovin' It" on the reasons we don't want to be parents, and the issues we deal with for choosing not to follow the norm. (These bloggers had called me a bitter, angry and selfish child-hater, which is far from the case.)
I have an online survey that over 2,100 childfree around the world have taken, and would love you to take it to. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/2lcjah
By the way, I searched that woman's blog for the word "childfree" (which is my tag word thru Google Alerts) and never did find it. So the whole thing is a mystery how I was sent that link, but I've learned to be more careful about where I blog from now on!
Kidfree Kaye
www.kidfreeandlovinit.com
Claire,
This makes sense! Google Reader thinks that I am all about decorating. If only... I do find it comforting that other people are all about decorating though. And did you say you have 49 blogs that you read? Holy Moly! You are hardcore!
Krystal - DO IT. Let's see what happens! =) However, that just might affect your ability to read your blogs at work, so maybe you shouldn't...
Kaye, thanks for stopping by! I learned a long time ago not to be careful that I don't come off even close to recruiting other women to the CF life, & thankfully in not such a traumatic way as yours! Like you, I love my CF lifestyle, but it certainly isn't for everyone. There are those that are convinced that they MUST have a child or their life will suck, so who am I to try to convince them otherwise? Anyway, I'm sorry that happened to you, & I'll stop by your site!
Lucy, I pulled that number out of my ass. I do subscribe to a few news sites & I really just peruse the headlines. If I want to read it, I do, but most of the time, I don't. About 1/2 of my subscriptions are blogs, & yes, I do have a few. I don't always read them, though, especially if they have posts titled "Your Breastfeeding Rights & How to Exercise Them". Nope, I won't be reading that one.
Aha!
This explains so much about the blogs Google suggests I check out. Mommy blogs are always being offered as suggested reading - so some of the peeps to whom I sub, sub to those? It all makes sense now!
I frequently have Johnny Cash days myself. Black on black on black makes me look like a size four, right? Right???
I hope the waxing went well. I hope you were interrogated while being torture. My last visit (the one I blogged about) made me feel as if I were at Gitmo.
were should have been were NOT.
yeah, like i hope your were tortured...
oh coffee buzz, how you leave me everyday at this time...
Claire, I warned you about google reader!
I see...well at least I don't feel like a blog slacker. Oh and great minds DO think alike. When Mr. Luce was travelling for work last week, he realized he left the Ipod at home. What did he buy so he wouldn't have to listen to the radio? A Johnny Cash CD.
Stepher, you kill me. I've come to the conclusion that when I wear black on black, I don't look smaller, I just look like I'm wearing all black. Oh, & I survived the waxing, & my sadist is fabulous. We have a grand time, really.
Peggy, it's easily manageable. Like I told Lucy, a good chunk of it is headlines, & most of those I don't bother to read the article.
And Lucy, you've confirmed what I already knew - Mr. Luce is brilliant & has great taste in music!
Awww. Mr. Luce says thanks!
Claire!
I just left an EPIC comment re: your comment on my blog. When you have, oh I don't know, an hour so so, will you pop on over again. I think we may be sharing one travel-brain!
S.
Sometimes you just have to put your fingers to the keys and type. I rarely do that. I am far too flooking practical to be a stream of consciousness blogger. It is sort of why I rarely comment on blogs, because unless I have something to say, I don't just drivel on. I admire the people who start out in a blog with supposedly nothing to say and at the end have entertained me beyond my initial expectations. You are such a person Claire, and although you may not know it, I read your blog with great interest....
Stepher, I still have to go back & answer that colossal comment. I will, I swear...I'm just time-challenged at the moment.
Danny, thank you for making me smile! That's a very nice thing to say! I just can't be practical all the time, it doesn't look good on me. Oh, & by the way, I do love your blog, serious as it is. I think that one day, we'll have to make a trip up to PA...what fun we'd have!
Hmmm - I guess I'm glad I never managed to set up google reader with my eclectic selection of blogs to read.....I wonder what your friends will get now that you've mentioned sadist :).
I can assure you it wasn't me that made the preggo stuff show up....But if you find any really good porn blogs - let me know ;).
I subscribed to one legal gossip blog. One. Because, well, I am a lawyer and I like to read gossip about what's going on in the legal world...now all google suggests for me are all these blogs on various points of law and law students blogging about how miserable their lives are (yeah, been there done that, don't care to repeat it even by reading about other peoples' experiences). Such boring suggestions. I must subscribe to 60+ wine blogs, yet it NEVER suggests anything wine related for me.
LOL - the stuff Google thinks I want to read crack me up. Kristal must not have subscribed to any porn blogs yet...they haven't hit my suggestion box ;)
Em, I think anyone that subscribes to this is safe because I'm not currently subscribing with a sadism blog. At least not that I know of!
Sonodora, thanks for stopping by! I wouldn't want to LIVE that life, much less RElive it! No offense, of course, just not for me. And wow, 60+ wine blogs? That's a whole lotta reading...even for me, & I love to read or talk about wine as long as it doesn't get too terribly geeky. I mainly just like to drink it. =)
Jenn...me neither! You actually know Krystal, right? Tell her to get on it!
Did we meet a couple weeks ago at a charity event for Discovering Options? You sound so familiar ... Either way, it's a great blog and I look forward to coming back often. I especially like your tips on shops and restaurants (since I'm tied down with two kids and have to be pretty darn selective when I do get a night out!).
Hey Claire - I heard you got to meet Kristal this weekend. I told her I'm jealous ;)
We should do a blogger brunch/lunch some weekend!
How are you dear???
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