Blogging questions from Fake Plastic Fish

I tend to read a lot of blogs and recently Crunchy Chicken announced that she's taking a break to focus on her family. When I read this announcement I have to confess that my immediate thought was very selfish; "nooooo, I love reading your blog". Having said this I understand and support her decision, but at the same time I was really excited to see her post today. Judging by the number of reader comments regarding her announcement that she was taking a break, I am not the only person who felt this way.

Later I read another one of my favorite blogs, Beth Terry's Fake Plastic Fish. Beth had originally one topic in mind for a post, however with Crunchy's post another one took shape. If I am reading her correctly Crunchy's decision to take a break from blogging in combination with the process and pressures of blogging prompted her to ask a number of questions. I started to reply to Beth's questions on her site and then realized that it would take me a long time to respond to her (what I believe to be) important and thought provoking questions.



1. Do you feel pressured to write a minimum number of posts per week?


I do feel pressured to write a minimum number of posts, but I do not write as many as I would like.


2. If so, where does the pressure come from? If not why the heck not? What's your secret?


For me the pressure is self imposed. I started my blog partly in an attempt to document and learn how to reduce my carbon footprint. Given that I work full time and have a number of other activities, the pressure I place on myself is limited by the other good pressures in my life,like my family and friends. As not many people read this blog, I do not feel that I am disappointing them.


3. How do you manage your computer time in general? Is it easy for you to get on, do what you have to do and get off? Or do you get sucked in for hours and lose track of time?


In general, my computer time is managed for me, but when I do get on the computer I can stay on for a very long time. Because I tend to lose track of time when I get on the computer I make sure that I have other commitments that require me to leave cyberland. These other commitments are usually with people (live ones) and as I do not wish to disappoint them, I make sure that I am where I say I am going to be.



4. Do you have significant others who resent the time you spend on line? How do you negotiate computer time vs. personal real-life time?

As far as I know none of my family resents the time I spend on the computer, however I live alone and when I am with people I am not generally on the computer. As I mentioned, to make sure I do not spend too much time on the computer I schedule myself.


5. Do you ever find yourself walking down the street in the real world and realize that your head is still totally stuck in the Blogosphere?

Not yet, but I have only started blogging.

6. Has your body suffered in any way from spending too much time sitting and staring at a computer screen rather than exercising? Has your diet suffered?

In addition to using the computer for fun, I also use one for work. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer and it has negatively impacted my food choices and my activity level. Slowly I have been working to make positive changes.


7. Have you resorted to alcohol or other chemicals to wind down and take your mind off of cyberland? If so, is that a problem for you?

I do not resort to alcohol or other chemicals to relax or take my mind off of cyberland. In some ways cyberland is my form of relaxation.

8. How do you manage your e-mail?

I do not find it difficult to manage my e-mail. At work I prefer it to the telephone (so I find many people e-mail now rather than phone me) and at home I only give a limited number of people my home e-mail.


9. Does blogging ever make you feel lonely? It is, after all, a solitary act while you're composing your posts. I suppose it's no different from being any other kind of writer in that regard.

Sometimes I feel lonely when I blog, but when a friend of mine connected with me via the blog I no longer felt the isolation. Knowing that someone was actually reading my thoughts made the difference for me.


10. What kind of support can we, as bloggers and blog readers, give to each other besides nice comments on the blogs? Is there a way that we can work together and give each other a break? Sure, we could create a Forum to vent our frustrations and give each other feedback. But that would just add another task to our online "to do" lists?

For me, it is the comments and knowing that someone else is reading provides a great deal of support. I suspect that if a number of people read my blog and some people left not so nice comments, I might feel less than appreciated or possibly attacked even and would need to focus on the positive things that people say and feel about me.


11. How do you read blogs? Do you subscribe in a reader and if so, how many blogs are you subscribed to? How many feeds do you read each day? Do you feel pressured to keep up with your blog reading in addition to your blog writing?

I am a bit of a computer wimp, so I have my fave blogs listed in my favorites and check them daily or weekly depending upon how often the writer blogs.