Blahg

Occasionally, I go in search of a new blog to read. For every 50 or so that I glance at, maybe one will catch my interest and I'll put it on my list. About 50% of those remain on the list for more than two weeks. In this search process, I've discovered that most blogs can be categorized, though some clearly have crossover into other categories. Here's how I categorize most blogs I come across:

Blah, Blah, Blah Blog (aka the Blahg - ha! I just made that one up. I'm clever.)

A blog that is similar to a diary or journal, but instead of "Dear Diary" it's "Dear Blog Readers." A vast majority of blogs fall into this category. Some writers of these blogs are extremely good and can hold an audience wider than friends, family, and/or acquaintances. They can find humor or depth in everyday topics and turn them into a concise post and interweave those posts with tidbits from their personal lives. Those are the best of the genre. The other end of the spectrum with this category is just a covering of the details of day-to-day life. Typically, these blogs hold only the interest of family, friends, and some acquaintances; this is where my blog falls.

I am always searching for a Blahg that can hold my attention for post after post. It's a hard one to find because it's not necessarily the best writing or the most interesting life that will hook you. I'm not sure what it is. I guess finding a few common threads? What I have found odd about reading these types of blogs is how you kind of start like you feel you know someone and then something bad happens to them (e.g. her father dies or she ends up in the hospital for a month) and you feel like you should do something, but you don't know this person at all. You can also feel a bit like you're spying on someone's life, but here's my philosophy on that: if it's on the Internet, it's like posting it on a public bulletin board. It's just matter of whether you stuck it up there with neon paper and stood there pointing it out to people, or you just quietly stuck a small piece of paper behind a bunch of others and tip-toed away. Every once in a while, I wonder if I should just make mine a private blog, but it would require making everyone without an existing gmail account sign up for gmail, so that is what holds me back.

The Mom Blog

These blogs are devoted to talking all about the babies, the kids, the funny things the kids say, and the posting of pictures of kids. I would say in order to be put in the Mom Blog ring, you can't be a person that swears a lot in the blog or is overly jaded. If you're either of those two, then you get put into another category. The Mom Blog is reserved for the soccer mom's of the blogging world who bring orange slices to the games and drive Suburbans.

Because I'm not a mom, I don't find these blogs particularly interesting (unless I know the person). I'm sure that will change if I ever have kids.

Topical Blog

These are blogs devoted to a specific topic like knitting, politics, sports, cooking, etc. I suppose Mom Blogs could go into this category, but the Mom Blogs are kind of a beast unto themselves. Few of the topical blogs can hold my interest for long. I've tried various political blogs, but the problem is they have way too many posts (6-7 per day). That's a lot of posts to keep up with. Since I don't really have any hobbies, other than blogging I suppose, topical blogs don't do much for me.

Emotional Angst Blog

These blogs are the ones that attempt poetic prose with each post - they try to be deep and show what undervalued, underestimated beings are behind the angst spewing forth. They sometimes change the template so that a poem in flowery writing is the first thing you see and then sappy music plays. I don't like poetry. I don't care if that makes me a Philistine, I'm not going to pretend I do. I have never been moved by a poem, I find people who read them in an aching voice pretentious, and for these blogs, I hold a particular place of loathing for in my heart. I clearly don't read any of these.

Family Connection Blog

This is the blog that is done by a family, couple, or person to keep in contact with friends and family given busy schedules and distance. They tend to be surface-level because when all types of family and extended family read things, there is a limit to the conversational topics discussed.

Asian-Girl Photoblog

This is a unique bred of blog. When I click through Blogger using the Next Blog button, I inevitably come across several blogs by Asian girls (14-20ish seems to be the age range) with lots of pink backgrounds and moving things and then she fills up the blog with pictures of herself and her friends in malls. There's very little text. I find it with Asian boys, too, though in much smaller numbers. And it's not like you don't find American kids doing the same thing, but maybe you don't see it as much in Blogger because American kids use MySpace for that type of thing? I don't know. All I know is I have definitely noticed a pattern of girls living in Asian countries doing this.

The Ex-Pat Blogs

Just a blog done by a person living in another country. I love these blogs because it typically contains a lot of culture comparisons. I particularly enjoy three written by American's in Norway, France, and Africa (Ghana).