thoughts for thursday.

i can barely think straight i'm so mad at typepad.  it ate this post as well.  bastard.

so, last weekend matt went out with some friends.  he met one of our friend's fiance, who told matt she felt like she knew him and tucker from reading my blog.  atleast this was matt's version of the conversation.  i asked matt if he thought that was weird at all.  all he did was groan (as in, i don't care what you do but i want to go to sleep right now so leave me alone).  yeah, he could care less about all this blog stuff.

it got me thinking though. 

in this post, random people are those who are not exactly friends, but they are not strangers either.  in my case, they probably live or have lived in the same town as me...but we don't talk on a normal basis.  kwim?  eh, it's not really a good definition but i think you get the point.

in the past, there have been random people that have come up to my friends and talked to them about something we had done.  until my friend's realized where they had read about our escapades, they just figured these random people were stalking us in the bushes somewhere.  there have also been times when i go to tell my parents something and they have told me, 'yeah, i read that on your blog'.  whoops.  guess high speed internet really is high speed.  it's beat me to the punch a time or two.

however, just because there are random people reading, i don't really censor what i talk about.  if i wanted to share about how i remove the pimple off my forehead in my self portraits, i would.  if i didn't want to share how we pulled off a sweet prank last week, i wouldn't.  everything gets filtered at the fingertips.  i have no worries or regrets about my blog content.

so, back to the thoughts i want your feedback on:

1. have random people come up to you IRL and talked to you about something on your blog?  i've had this experience a few times.  i actually like when random people tell me about things they've seen on my blog.  usually it's a compliment of some sort (i love your blog or your photography is amazing or you have the cutest kid EVER).  okay, i'm really emphasizing what they say, but roll with me here.
2. do you censor what you have on your blog because the random people are reading?  something you would feel safe sharing with a friend or even a stranger, but not those 'inbetween' people?  um, i guess to some point i do have a censor.  i don't talk about my marriage much.  i don't talk about work at all.  i don't talk about my aunt greta and her crazy husband bert - but that's because i don't have an aunt greta.  ha - gotcha!
3. does your hubby care what you share on your blog?  um, i think i covered this. 

oh, and all your random people that are reading right now, leave me a comment so you are not a stranger anymore!  then we can become bff's and hang out at the lounge on saturday nights and have jag bombs together.  or not.  :)

other thoughts for thursday bloggers include:  kristi, heather and denise.

ps. this post sucked to rethink/retype all over.  ergh.

Comments

[CP]

OMG - I was trying to figure out how to answer the email you sent me and came to read some of your blog to get an idea of how to answer said email. This post told me all I need to know.

I'm going to go answer your email now....

[Kristi S]

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this one! I have way too many people reading my blog who never comment- yes, I definitely censor what I say because I am a professional and need to be careful! I am easily found on the internet so I had a password up for months. My blog usually beats me to the punch too, I never have to talk in person anymore (J/K)!! Its only weird if it someone I wasn't expecting to be reading it says something. E hates me blogging about anything too personal...

[Ann]

My blog is kind of impersonal and noone I know even knows Ihave this blog, besides my husband. Because I have insane privacy issues, I self center sooo much, no-one cares. I will probably get more personal once I feel used to blogging about my life.I just can't ever think of anything to say.

By the way, just found your blog today and I'm really enjoying it.

[Anne]

Random people have never come up to me to discuss my blog. Now, a few family members surprise me occasioally, because I don't expect them to be reading. This said, I totally censor what I write. The only way to be free about everything (which I consider periodically) is to begin a new blog and never mention real names or places...and one probably would have to develop a new writing style. It's just easier to omit some things.

[tiedtogetherwithasmile]

I absolutely HATE it when my posts get eaten. I enjoyed writing it the first time, but the second, hell no.

To answer your questions..only two of my friends know about the blog so I don't ever see anyone IRL who reads it (that I know of). 2)I have learned to censor what I write after one friend read something that they weren't happy about, it didn't end well. I just started a new job and I will never say anything in detail about that. 3)There have been times that I wanted to write about something that involved my bf and his friends and he absolutely vetoed the idea. But usually he doesn't care.

[MrsPop]

1. I'm very selective about who in my real life knows about my blog, so I don't have randoms coming up to me about it.
2. I do some self-censoring because some things are just too private to share. And some things (like unposted rants about work) could get me in trouble. My blog is not worth losing my job over.
3. My hubby DEFINITELY cares about what I post. In fact, he bugge me and bugged me about which vacation photos I posted and I ended up adding the ones he wanted me to share. He'll give me a hard time about comments or the way I write something, too. But it's better than keeping the blog a secret from him.

[Robyn]

I haven't had any random person ask me about it. I have shared the addy with some friends from work, but I tell them most of the stuff I blog about anyway. I don't discuss work to much because of where I work. I have stories, I should share someday. And I don't write anything I wouldn't want my mom reading since she reads mine.

[Dana]

Well, I guess since I am a random to your blog... I want to introduce myself. My name is Dana... and I am Kristi's SO's cousin... I recently started blogging so I don't know who is reading my blog unless they comment me. But I do enjoy reading blogs... I guess it makes me feel better that Kristi knows you guys!

But on the other side of it.. I would NEVER go up to someone and say, "Oh, Hi, I know you from your blog" or from someone else's blog. I think that is a bit creepy! I'll read blogs, but I don't retain most of the information.

I do try to censor what I write in my blog, but only because there is one particular person I don't want to know everything about me or what is going on in my life. I try not to be too descriptive about things I post.

I don't know if my bf knows that I blog. I have told him, but it's one of those things that he doesn't acknowledge. I don't talk about the dirty laundry, work... Just the general things we do each day. I know... kinda boring! :)

[anne]

(I like your new header and blog color!)

1. As far as I know, not many randoms read my blog. Well maybe they do and I just don't know it b/c they're random:) The people that I do know that read it often comment about things I've written on my blog, and that's fine with me. It cracks me up though when someone will take the time to email me or compliment something on the blog, but will NEVER post a comment! Sometimes I feel it's a bit sad that the way we communicate has turned so impersonal and technical. You mentioned that your family hears about what you do before you tell them. Sometimes I find myself, in response to someone asking me what I've been up to or how Ryan's doing, saying "oh, go check out FatJ- you can read all about it." How rude of me! I don't think I should substitute blogging for personal interaction and conversation.

2. I do censor what I write about, but mainly it's because of the people I DO know that are reading, not the ones that I don't know. I don't tend to share a ton of personal stuff, husband/relationship stuff, work stuff (when there was work- tee hee), because I don't think that kind of thing needs to be broadcast to the world. There are some things I'd like to be more open about from a woman/mother perspective, but golly, my father in law reads my blog! That would just be too weird:)

3. Yes, my husband reads all my posts- after all, he was the originator of FatJ way back when! He would get annoyed if I talked about our relationship, or bitched about him. He also typically hates when pictures of him are posted. I have to have him approve all images of himself before I post them. ha!

[Kim]

No one reads my blog. I'm new and a nerd.

[gina]

1. I do get random comments that freak me out. There are a LOT of people reading that don't admit it to me but talk to other people about it, which I find weird.
2. I censor. People are touchy and I don't want to offend anyone I love even when sometimes they drive me INSANE. Topics are hard to come by because I know someone they will annoy.
3. He doesn't generally care...other than that time I announced to the world that he was going to be out of town for four days and he yelled at me for that.

[Nicole]

I haven't really had anyone random come up to me, but I've ran into not-so-well-known "acquaintances" and found out through conversation that they read my blog. I've also been at photog sessions and had clients make reference to my personal blog and that always kind of leaves me speechless (and leaves my mind racing... "what awkward things have I said lately on my blog that I should be embarrassed about right now" HAHA!).

Personally, I used to censor my blog a lot more, and often I will censor the real nitty gritty when I think about it, but for the most part I write what I feel I need/want to write. I just always keep in mind that I know clients and long lost relatives and possibly co-workers read my blog, but in the end, I really honestly don't care. I am probably a lot more open on my blog to strangers (as in, 99% of the stuff I write on my blog I'd easily dish to friends, but obviously not to strangers/clients kwim?), but I guess that's the bonus of blogging... you can be open with strangers and reveal your inner most secrets and not feel too awkward (until you randomly run into them LOL!).

I don't really think my hubby cares too much about what I share on my blog. I know lots of times he hates when I bitch about him, but I always tell him its my blog and if he wouldn't piss me off I wouldn't have to bitch-blog about him LOL!

[Randi]

1.I have had only family do this to me. Like I will tell my mom something, not remembering I've blogged about it, and she'll stop me and say, " I know, I already read your blog."

2. Yes I censor big time, wish I didn't, but I do. I'm beginning to be OK with that decision though. There are some things I just won't blog about b/c I like my privacy to much. I think I share enough.

3. Hubby doesn't like me to blog about his job, where we live, our last name, etc. But actually I started that rule and he backed me. He is pretty open when it comes to the blogging world. He's OK with me talking about him, putting his picture up, etc. He thinks it's cool hobby I have. He reads my blog and even guest posts!

[stacy]

well no one reads my blog so i don't have any randoms, that i know of, yet and probably never will. i don't really sensor anything i write. i don't write anything very interesting, but i don't sensor it, i just type what's on my mind. and my hubby could care less about what i am writing about, just like matt :)

so am i a random? funny!

[Denise H.]

I don't really censor a whole lot on my blog except for a few things being that my 12 year old niece and her friends are faithful readers and commenters.

Although, I never talk about my job but only because I HATE IT!

I am who I am and that is what you get. My husband doesn't mind and usually when I write a post about him, I send him the link and he will put his little comment on it. He thinks it's fun and only gets crap from his friend Helmet about it.

[Michelle]

I haven't really had randoms talk about it, but I don't come into contact with too many of those peeps. I do censor myself when it has to do with my hubby. I don't think it's fair to him to talk about us. That is something private to him and me. I have a TFT too today. It's all about sex, go check it out! Oh and I'll be driving through Silver Bay tomorrow on my way up to Lutsen. Holy crap that's far! I'm dreading the 4 hour drive! Booooo.

[shelby]

no one except for people I know irl have talked to me about what I post on my blog, but dh does ask that I dont put any real personal information about our daughter on it. his sister on the other hand password protects her blog because she is so worried about the people out there that might do something.
i have only ever looked at my blog as a way to share what is going on with us good and bad and to connect with people out there who are interested in our lives

[chickbug]

1- i've had a few random people say talk about the blog. and definitely have had MANY conversations with family and friends that have started by saying, "so, i ready on your blog...". i think the weirdest part is when i a complete stranger (friend of a friend of a friend) and they know all about my life and i know nothing about theirs. still trying to get use to that.

2- definitely censor. don't talk about work. or sex. or my REAL feelings about certain people and situations (because i know they read it).

3-i have no hubby. but the blog has complicated my dating life a little bit. when do you tell people about the blog? should you? can you blog about dating? it is a whole new issue to deal with.

[Mary]

I have never had random people talk to me about anything on my blog. They'll fess up that they read it though. I have a few friends that read it on a daily basis and never comment but if I talk to them they'll say "hey, cool picture" or "thomas is getting so big". That doesn't creep me out. I have a tracker on my blog and I really don't care to figure out the out of state IP addresses but there are a few local addresses that I have yet to figure out. Those one's haven't come clean yet!
I do sensor a little. I will not talk about work on my blog other than maybe "oh I had a sucky day." And I won't dish my dirty laundry if I've had an argument with the husband. And for the most part, the husband doesn't care what goes up there.