Bloggery

The idea of blogging was fascinating to me for years before ever I ever considered starting one. I sort of had the impression that blogs were for people who needed a place to voice their political opinions or promote an organization, but I hadn't thought about it in a very personal way until my cousin Elisa referred me to hers and Kristi's (another cousin).

I was intrigued with what I found on their blogs. I had just read Amy K. Rosenthal's book Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, which I loved. It's just snippets of her life -- her observations, opinions, thoughts, associations.... Blogging seemed like a good forum for those types of writings, which I've always enjoyed doing anyway. And with a blog you can so easily post a photo and share it with others and even sometimes get feedback.

I also came across Jill's blog and got hooked reading it. She is a very engaging writer and so down to earth that you instantly feel like you know her (and it turned out that we had met before...years ago). Then one day I saw a photo on someones blog of the inside of their fridge and it all clicked for me. To have such a normal thing documented was very inspirational, just think about how the fridge and contents of it will change and evolve over the years. Wouldn't you love to see a photo of your fridge when you were a kid? That was the point when I knew I needed to start documenting ordinary life -- the things that don't make it into my journal and are even more interesting when accompanied by a photo.

This is not typical of what's in our fridge, but it's what I found when I opened it yesterday.

Blogging is out of my comfort zone in many ways, but it's opened up some good opportunities and friendships. Saturday night Jill organized and hosted a party for this whole network of bloggers and it was amazing! It was like going to a party of celebrities where you know who these people are and things about them, although you've never met them.

It was so fun to meet Laurie, the Tip Junkie - a very classy girl, and Jill's sister Robyn who is so friendly and easy to talk to, and her other sister Lori who is very fun and has a contagious laugh. I met Amy, whose blog is called The Fromagerie and we talked about cheese and France and grocery stores we love. Barb who lives in Canada and has a great sense of humor. Claudia - the fabulous Claudia - who drove all the way from California just for the party! Michelle, who is so nice and has very pretty blue eyes. Patsy, who looks so young for having a son on a mission and a daughter who just got married! Amy M, who is amazing with her photography. Elisa and Kristi were there - the cousins I hardly ever see, but was so happy to see them.

It was really fun to connect with all these people and feel such a sense of camaraderie.