SAJ and I walked down to the beach last evening while I wallowed in self-deprecation about my blog with comments like “Why did I force my husband at gunpoint to build this site for me? Why would anyone choose to read this damn thing? CSS blows. No one will ever visit this loser blog.” Don’t I sound fun?
Whoah! Hold your horses, little lady! Keep in mind that I just posted my first entry on August 3rd. Impatience. That’s a trait near and not-so-dear to my heart. I have a history of jumping into new projects with an insane amount of fervor (need! results! now!), only to have it slowly wither away over a couple of weeks or months. One project that immediately comes to mind was my all-consuming search for my family’s genealogy. The Whoorl Genealogy Project. I literally called my parent’s home 20 times a day.
“Dad! Did you know your great great great great grandfather lived in Kentucky?” “
“That’s great, honey.”
Twenty minutes later, “Mom! Did you know that our ancestors lived on a farm in Ballymoney, Ireland?!”
“That’s great, dear.”
Fifteen minutes later, “Dad! Did you know your great great great grandmother had triplets, Anna, Alfred and Angus?”
Click.
“Dad, did you just hang up on me?”
Silence.
You get the picture. Eventually, the only parental voice I heard was the one on the answering machine. However, my ancestry insanity did fade after I realized most of my conversations with my father were similar to this:
Father: Sarah, I think it is really neat that you are trying to attribute your personality traits to someone who lived 300 years ago, but don’t you think you might be taking it a little too far? Maybe you should get some air.
Sarah: But Daaaaaad, I’m Irish. That soooooo explains my love of Guinness beer, my rosacea AND my fair skin, which mind you, has resulted in two moles being surgically removed with stitches involved! Had I known my heritage before, I might have worn a higher sunscreen! Duh.
Other recent projects involved learning to cook items other than Zatarain’s black beans and rice, and my secret incognito-burrito project that must remain under wraps for the time being. Well, I guess I am my father’s daughter- this is the man who dove head first with every ounce of his being into hobbies such as photography, guitars, coin-collecting, scrap gold parts (wtf?) and watch repair. Mind you, he excels at absolutely everything he does, but I don’t hear much about those coins and cameras these days, if ya know what I mean. By the way, this is also the man who would like me to refer to him as Bishop Stu Tu on my blog. Don’t ask.
Back to Queen Josephine. After our walk, I had some dinner and lurked on some of my fave blogs. And then, I saw it. My overly excited face on SAJ’s new entry. She was telling people to check out my blog. Could she BE any cooler or more helpful? I went to sleep with a big smile on my face, knowing that I, whoorly girl, was so lucky to have such a great new friend.
This morning, I poured myself a big cup of decaf. Yes, I drink decaf because caffeine makes me turn into one seriously anxious freak of nature. As my doctor informed me, I am naturally caffeinated. I logged on to my email, and there they were. Comments. Huh? People visited my site? HOLY SHIT! YAY YIPPEE YAY YAY YEE HAW!! I stood up, did a little dance, sat down and then it hit me. Doom. Big Doom. If people visited my site and liked it, then they will probably come back. That means I have to write something witty or funny or something. The pressure! How do you all do it? I was the girl from high school and college who morphed into a sloppy puddle of failure when a teacher mentioned the word “essay”. However, today I made a pact. This will be the project that doesn’t wither. I will continue to ramble on incessantly as long as someone is still reading. Woohoo! By the way, thanks to everyone who commented. I felt like I was 8 years old again shooting the duck at my rocking-roller-rink-fun-skate birthday party.
Oh, and for those of you who haven’t had the chance to meet SAJ in person, she really is THAT creative, inspiring and super cool. Plus, she’s got that whole pregnancy-glow-thing down pat.
Cara
August 9, 2005 at 7:44 pmGreat blog! I understand the whole husband thing. I’m guilty of having him help me with my homework before. Macromedia Flash is so hard if you don’t know what you’re doing!
Boogie's Mom
August 9, 2005 at 9:14 pmI did come back to your site because I love you’re style, both your writing and this beautiful site. Welcome aboard!
BishOp stu tu
August 10, 2005 at 3:02 amWhOOrl gOOrl,
I didn’t realize until now that you are pretty much “out there”…in keeping with your moderne ancestry. Regarding my “lost” affection for coins, as you have been instructed, the paper fiat of the realm will soon be worth less. My obsession with gold is under wraps, as a result of being haunted by the cIA and the Republican Party for donations , that’s all!
You should write more aboot the sOOners’ dominance of the Tejas longhorns. These are the people that gave us W. They must be stopped.
Viva AL SHARPTON! love the hair.
good lucque and good fishing. tankee.
bishOp stu tu
Annie
August 9, 2005 at 9:19 pmWell, hey, I’ve been a faithful reader since the beginning! Granted, that was about a week ago. But saying, “Since the beginning” makes me sound committed. And I like that. Mainly because I have the attention span of a fruit fly, and anything that makes my attention span sound… less fruit fly-ish is wonderful!
Erm, well, enough about me. Great blog!
lini
August 10, 2005 at 5:18 amAs I recall, you did not apply to any college that required an essay for admittance!!! Who would have known you are a gifted author?
Lini (your Mother)
Carl V.
August 10, 2005 at 7:40 amAh, the ups and downs of blogging! More important than anything else is to decide to blog for yourself first. Then take your audience into consideration. Its hard to pour your heart into something and only have a few people read it and its equally hard to come up with something new/exciting once people start showing up! The old catch-22!
I think if you write about the things that interest you then the readers will come. You’ll have dry, idea-less days and then days where you think of a ton of things you want to blog about. I recommend making a list so you can always go to one of your previous ‘inspirations’ if you are having a writer’s block day.
SAJ
August 10, 2005 at 11:07 amShe thinks I’m glowing but actually the glow is because she’s walking so fast I’m breaking a sweat! Shiney sweat=glow.
Lulu
August 10, 2005 at 12:27 pmOH, I loved your site too! I bookmarked it and everything and I came back and I want to read more.
And it’s not just because SAJ told me to, even though she is cute as a button and I would SO read whatever she tells me. :)
Keep going, don’t be discouraged. :)
ms. sizzle
August 10, 2005 at 12:34 pmi am also “naturally caffeinated” so i feel your pain. ;) welcome to blog world!
soapbox.SUPERSTAR
August 10, 2005 at 1:38 pmWell, I think your new little place here is quite comfy! And I dig those glasses!
rebecca
August 10, 2005 at 5:55 pmKeep it up! I just found your site on Secret Agent Josephine (who I also just recently found) and you are a great addition to the blogging world. Yay you!
jenny
August 11, 2005 at 4:06 pmrosacea NO more. i’ve got the cure, it fixed mine :). philosophy shelter moisturizer with spf 15. it’s a God send!
Photographer Lori
August 12, 2005 at 10:06 amI think you need to write about your love of Rockstar: INXS and why you love/hate each contestant! ;)
LORI
deeleea
August 12, 2005 at 3:58 amSAJ has it going on… any recommendation from her is a sure thing!! So, revel in the attention Whoorly girl!!
Love the look by the way, and welcome to the blogpshere… You’re going to love it here!!
Sarcomical
August 15, 2005 at 7:27 ami think it’s great that you’ve got such funny in you. ;) makes for good posts.
“naturally caffeinated”…hmmmm…how do i get some of that?