Bloggin' on the DL

When I sent a mass email to my friends and family about my fresh new blog sandwich, I was touched by the sweet, encouraging notes I was sent back. Rock on, sistergirl! One sister of mine told me I should try and find work as a writer. Yes, yes…I thought, because writers are in such high demand these days! I argued: This is not the point of me doing this thing. I do not necessarily want to trick it out. I am merely trying to wring out a few precious drops of creative expression from my brain lest it dries out completely. This is just for me. I am enjoying the act of writing and I don’t need to whore it out so friggin ’fast, okay?

More than one person mentioned the flurry of news articles going around lately that spoke about people getting fired from their jobs for having blogs. Not sure what the exact circumstances were surrounding the firings (a dude from Kmart, a chick at Delta, another chick who worked at the Senate). It’s probably better that I didn’t come across them before I decided to make my own. I can’t help but think a little bit of writing, every day, is going to make me a happier person.

My Mom even called, panic-stricken, to warn me about getting fired from work because of my blogging. She never calls me. Well, hardly ever. And just for the record, No, Ma, I do not want to move to Las Vegas! I’d rather swallow glass. Phew, now I really feel like I just talked to my mother. I tried to comfort her: Mom, I’ve been fired from jobs before. It’s no big. She didn’t find comfort in that.

A friend of mine, let’s call her “Bolivia”, turned me on to dooce.com. A woman named Heather Armstrong actually did get fired from her job and looky there! Started her own website with ads by Google and everything. Heather is my new hero and is too-legit-2-quit. I can’t wait to dig in and see what I can pilfer. She posts photos every day. I think I can get fancy like that one day with my little Cannon A80. The best feature of this camera, hands down, is the movable viewfinder. Excellent for taking self-portraits. I took about 500 pictures during Christmas. Probably 300 were of me and maybe one other person.

I like Heather’s writing style. She is a self-described “Stay at Home Mom (SAHM)” or a “Shit Ass Ho Motherfucker.” She claims to do both equally well. What makes this especially funny is the sweet Hallmark-Kodak-Precious-Moment picture she has of herself with her baby’s hands gently touching her face. Awww! Shit Ass Ho Motherfucker…I likes Heather.

I can’t swear like that in my blog, I thought. My Mom reads this! I caught myself practicing self-censorship and quickly nixed the idea. I use swear words in every day language and I’ll be good-goddamned if I start to write in a high-falutin’ style that’s not my voice. The whole point of this writing exercise is to have a safe space in which to express whatever the hell I want. Unless it’s about Kmart, Delta or the US Senate, that is.