I'm sorry, did I read that correctly? Markos Moulitsas charges $9000 per week for ads on his blog? Holy cow, that's major scratch. And what a sweet gig: he barely writes anything and has minions who do all the work. Niiice.

Let the record show that I've never made any money from this blog, save the cut I got from The Blog of War. Unless you count the Iraqi dinar that R1 sent me while he was deployed...

Posted by: Sarah at 11:30 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This was a long read, but it was definitely worth my time. Hugh Hewitt interviews Joe Rago, the young journalist who said that blogs are crap.

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I recorded CSI last week and we just watched it last night. I guess no one else in the blogosphere watches that show, because someone would've mentioned that the episode "Happenstance" was about "fake but accurate"! The killer was a photographer who had gone to Iraq and then photoshopped a couple of photos together to make a more poignant visual. And his boss found out and was going to bust him so he killed her. I'm quoting from memory here, but at the end in his confession, he said something to the effect of

There's nothing worth photographing in Iraq. Insurgents shoot their AKs and run away. We raid houses at night and all they say is "Ali Baba not here." And the soldiers just get pumped up on caffeine and rock music waiting for something to happen. You end up praying for a roadside bomb, but even then you can't photograph the smell of gasoline. All you get is a photo of smoke. So I started playing around with the photos, and some soldiers saw me and said, "Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what it's like." So yes, I told a lie, to tell the truth.

The motive for his murder was "fake but accurate"! This CSI was ripped straight from blogs.

Moreover, that's probably the most accurate description of life in Iraq that's ever been uttered on TV. My husband said that's exactly what it's like. There's usually not something to photograph.

MORE:

I was just going to go email Charles Johnson to let him know, but someone beat me to it yesterday: Art imitates life. So much for my big scoop.

MORE:

Actually, HeatherRadish liveblogged it during the episode, so nevermind. I'll just go play last week's game.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:14 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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We sold a few books, we signed 'em, but mostly we talked. Non-stop.

If you read his blog way back when, you know what kind of man Tim is. But all you know about Patti is that she is the Sweetest Woman on the Planet. That makes it funny to hear the sweetest woman on the planet say she wants to smack John Kerry! Patti has "rounded out" in my mind since the days of reading Tim's blog, and I just can't get enough of this couple.

My husband and I talked a lot on the way home about what kind of woman Patti is, for she said something we won't soon forget. I asked her in the bookstore how it feels to be a civilian now. And she got a bittersweet look on her face as she glanced towards the Iraq photos she'd brought to display. She's torn up inside that this War on Terror is still going on and she's no longer a part of it. It pains her to know she left the Army while something is still undone.

My husband was touched by her response. We talked about how rare it is to find someone who takes personal responsibility for the fate of our nation. Patti feels guilt that she is not fighting this war, in stark contrast to most people we know who want as little role as possible. Patti feels herself to be part of something much larger than she is, and it was refreshing to hear someone express remorse at not doing more for her country.

We talked on the way home about all the stars that had to be aligned in order for us to have this wonderful afternoon with Tim and Patti. Patti had to be adopted by an American soldier in Korea. She had to come to the US and meet Tim in the Army. We both had to be stationed in Germany, even though Germany was nowhere to be found in our top ten choices of duty stations! We both had to start blogging. And Tim and I both had to overcome cries of Jody to meet each other face to face. Life came a long way to put the four of us in the same room, and my husband, not usually one to enjoy meeting new people, said how nice it felt to sit and talk to adults. Adult is the greatest compliment my husband can bestow.

Luckily, it looks like Tim and Patti might be headed our way in a few weeks. I am anxious to spend more time with them; four hours wasn't nearly enough.

I also wanted to talk to Tim about blogging. I've been at a crossroads lately, and I wanted to talk to someone who'd walked away. He misses it. Maybe we'll get him back...

Posted by: Sarah at 03:53 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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The first thing two of my best high school friends said when I walked up to them at the reunion was "Hey, we found your blog!" Gulp. All of a sudden I was completely self-conscious, and I still can't shake the feeling. Neither of them said anything to lead me to believe they agree (or disagree) with anything I say here. They just read it. And I don't like it.

Again, I can't help but think about what Tim said about Polite Company. (I swear, this is probably the post that I think about more than any other blog post that's ever been written.) My blog thoughts are never anything I would every want to discuss during a five minute conversation at my reunion. All of a sudden I felt naked, like everything controversial I've ever said was right there in the open. I was embarrassed, and the more I think about it, the stranger I feel.

I have a friend from high school who's Muslim. Devout Muslim. And we're most certainly still friends...because we both believe in Polite Company. What if he were to find my blog? Even though everything I write here is how I honestly feel, I still can't stand the thought of him finding it and learning everything all at once. What if he were hit with the full force of this blog instead of gradually discussing issues face to face, the way people used to get to know each other before blogs?

I can't stop wondering what these two friends are thinking. Do they talk about how crazy I am? These are two people I really look up to and admire, two of the smartest men I've ever known; what do they think of me now that they know every intimate detail about the inside of my brain?

Right now I feel so uneasy that I can't even stand to blog. It's not normal for your old friends to know the entirety of your personal and political beliefs when you don't know a single thing about theirs. It's a consequence of blogging that I wasn't quite prepared for, and to be honest it makes me feel ill.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:33 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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James Lileks hosted an open house this weekend. All I could think about these past few days -- and even moreso this morning when I read today's bleat/screed -- was how lucky some people are to be neighbors with James Lileks. People get to hang out with this man. My husband and I got this little fantasy going yesterday, that we could move in next to Jasperwood and time starting a family just right so that Gnat could be our babysitter. Do his real neighbors know how lucky they are?

Posted by: Sarah at 02:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The other day the doorbell rang, and UPS handed me my copy of The Blog of War.

Blackfive did a wonderful job of pulling this anthology together, and the finished product is a wonderful slice of history. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is how no one knew he would be published. We wrote our entries for our blogs, not for a book, so the writing is spontaneous and honest. We expected our friends and blog family to read our words, not the whole world; there's no pretension or feeling of "this is literature" in The Blog of War. It's just servicemembers and spouses describing deployment.

I've been reading it this week, and I must say I can only handle its intensity in small doses. Reading this book brings back deployment feelings that I honestly had forgotten about, and I find myself reliving the anguish, the anxiety, the loneliness, and the fear. I've been laughing, and lord, I've been crying, and with every page turn I've been wishing that every person I know would read this book.

But whatever you do, don't try to read the chapter on The Fallen all in one night. You won't sleep, trust me.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a glimpse into OIF and OEF. At a mere ten bucks, it's a steal on Amazon. My mom bought six! So far, I know our friends from Poland and Sweden have also bought copies, and I'm anxious to hear their responses. But it's a no-brainer if you're reading blogs and if you've ever visited MilBlogs; this book is definitely for you.

Buy the book. You won't be sorry.

My only regret is that this story didn't make it in. I didn't think to suggest it until I started reading the book and knew how perfectly it would've fit.

Posted by: Sarah at 02:37 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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In college I was friends with several Bulgarians. They used to constantly bring new things home from the grocery store that they'd never seen before. You should've seen their excitement when they discovered frozen juice concentrate...and watching them try to open it with a can opener was priceless. One day they brought home a tub of sour cream and asked me what it was. As I was trying to describe it, they opened the tub and ate a huge spoonful. Now, I'm the first person to enjoy a dollop of Daisy, but watching them eat plain sour cream directly from the tub kinda grossed me out.

I remembered that story today when I read the comments from yesterday. I've taken a lot of crap here on my blog for politics, and I fully understand that this comes with the territory, as much as I hate it. I'm prepared to hear people insult my intelligence and worldview, but I'm always amazed to find someone take insults to a place I never imagined.

Lest we forget what an ugly, ugly place the internet can be, here's the comment for all to read:

Yeah, look at you. You're fat because you sit around knitting, watching tv, reading, and eating sour cream by the gallon. You can't expect your husband to come home from a hard day at the government teat and drag your big butt away from the computer to do some exercise!

I guess I should just be relieved that he just called me fat and lazy; another blogger got a death threats directed at his toddler. When I read stuff like this, I am reminded of why Tim left blogging: the death of civility. And I'm reminded of how nice it would be in many ways to just quit.

Incidentally, the Bulgarians decided that sour cream made a good spread for toast. I don't get it either.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:53 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Civility is easily forgotten when you are mask by distance and cable wire. Don't dispare over it. They are what they say.......A??holes.

Posted by: Dr Gno at September 01, 2006 11:00 AM (YiUIK)

2 Eh, just ignore the punk or ban him. You wouldn't let a belligerent little miscreant do that in your living room, right? Sure he'll probably go back to his l33t loser friends and proudly proclaim how banned and oppressed he is, but really, does that matter in the long run? Prediction: he'll pretend he was as brave as the protestor in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square. After all, you've been in a tank before!

Posted by: Patrick Chester at September 01, 2006 12:11 PM (MKaa5)

3 My boyfriend has a thing for sour cream too. He got all excited when the commisary had the "good" sour cream. I wasn't aware that there was a "bad" kind, but oh, nevermind. Then, we got home, he opened the tub, stirred it all with a spoon, licked the spoon clean, and then dipped tortilla chips in there. Plain sour cream. And yeah, I love it how people who disagree with your politics, resort to personal insults. Yes, personally attacking a person is waaay easier than making an argument. Just like scaring people in submission is way easier and more probably than actually convincing them to see things your way.

Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at September 01, 2006 02:25 PM (gmIQP)

4 Interesting how the moron skewed your post about personal responsibility into you being fat and lazy. Maybe the idiot was self projecting. *grin*

Posted by: Teresa at September 05, 2006 05:41 PM (o4pJS)

5 It's a sad thing to realize that there's just some really ugly people in the world. I recently got a good lashing from my ex-mother-in-law that was so obnoxious and distorted it made me laugh! And I agree with Teresa....

Posted by: Allicadem at September 06, 2006 03:17 PM (hozcp)

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More bookblogging, found at Most Certainly Not:

1) A book that changed my life
Atlas Shrugged, of course.

2) A book I've read more than once
Atlas Shrugged, of course (2x). Also Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (4x). Funny story about that one: My Swedish friend heard me go on and on about that book for years, and one day at her friend's house I looked at his bookshelf and nearly fainted. There was Zen och konsten att sköta en motorcykel. My friend immediately borrowed it and started it on the train. And after about an hour, she looked up at me with this exhausted look and said, "Thank god I didn't try to read this in English." And I don't think she ever picked it up again after we got off that train.

3) A book I'd take to a desert island
Maybe I should take Gravity's Rainbow so I have nothing else to do except figure it out! Who am I kidding though; I'd probably take Atlas Shrugged or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

4) A book that made me laugh
I read Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe and Don't Go Europe! when we lived in Germany, and they both cracked me up.

5) A book that made me cry
I finished East of Eden recently, and I cried through most of it. I sat there in an empty apartment on a folding chair and wept for a week.

6) A book I wish had been written
I had an idea for a book once. I started it, but I kinda fizzled on it. I still like the idea of it, but I doubt I'll ever go through with it.

7) A book that should never have been written
That's a hard question to answer. Not anything on my shelf, no matter how much I loathe Marcel Proust. Um, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion?

A book I'm currently reading
I set down Gravity's Rainbow (I promise I'll come back to it) to read a certain book that arrived in the mail. More on that next week.

9) A book I'm planning to read
I got so many books the other day at Goodwill that it will be a struggle to choose which one comes first. Some on the list are Heart of a Soldier, The Way Things Ought to Be, Airframe, and Flying to the Moon (seriously, Goodwill must've known I was coming to put that one out.) I also still want to tackle Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis and Taking Science to the Moon. Still on the card are South Park Conservatives, The Wisdom of Crowds, and Diffusion of Innovation. My favorite birthday gift ever was when my parents took me to a used bookstore when I was 19 and told me to choose until my arms got full...

Posted by: Sarah at 08:58 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I know what you are reading right now because I am too . . . do you like it?

Posted by: Heidi at August 28, 2006 11:30 AM (Rlz+k)

2 I know what you are reading too, and am itching to read it, but have to wait until I get my own copy when I arrive home next week. I am sooo curious about it!

Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at August 28, 2006 12:40 PM (186zJ)

3 You have to read Marley and Me. As a dog owner, I know you'd love it. I cried at the end.

Posted by: Tom at August 29, 2006 04:57 AM (PaxpS)

4 Marley & Me is on my list for this week! Can't wait to crack it open.

Posted by: Melinda at August 29, 2006 08:13 AM (mMRvT)

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Angie tagged me to do one of those blog things, so here goes.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your Blog (Please include the book and author) along with these instructions.
5. DonÂ’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

Well, the nearest book is the husband's textbook, Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Snooze, but here goes:

"The ability to share costs across different segments has been a major factor in automobiles where very few specialist manufacturers survive and most of the world's main car makers offer a full range of vehicles allowing them to share costs through common platforms and components. The analysis of a company's optimal segment range is similar to the analysis of diversification versus specialization. We shall return to this issue in Chapter 15."

Shoot me before I have to read any more. Thank heavens the husband understands this crap. The closest fun book is something on the shelves. The first one on the second shelf is probably more interesting to my blog readers: Culture Shock Germany.

"Attendance at state schools is free, as are some (though not all) teaching materials and resources, such as books. Compared to many other present day state systems, German education offers quality instruction and commendable results. At least as important when considering your child's education is that sending your children to a German state school is also one of the best ways to integrate them into German society."

That wasn't that fun either, was it? Let's try one last book, the first one on the fifth shelf, Another Roadside Attraction.

"[The cockroach] is the most primitive of winged insects and its fossils (found in the rocks of Upper Carboniferous) are the earliest known. No other creature has lived on this Eearth as long as the roach. That's rather an impressive record for the repulsive little geek."

That'll do nicely.

Posted by: Sarah at 04:09 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Oh, come on! You can understand that. An auto manufacturer, let's say General Motors, shares costs for all sorts of things across the board. New engine technology research, for example, would be recouped by new auto sales for the next model year it appears through Buick, Pontiac, GMC, and all the others. Commonly used parts can be standardized, using the same sorts of alternators, brake pads, fuel pumps, transmissions, and whatnot. You make a bunch of parts and they'll fit a whole range of vehicles made by the different divisions. That way you can spend less money on the more specialized parts for the more customized vehicles. Determining the optmimum balance between ANSI standard cars that all use the same parts verses more specialized vehicles that can't use the same parts makes for lots of pretty lines on lots of graphs and keeps marketers and focus groups employed. Chapter 15 should show you a lot of these graphs. This also shows why the military procurement system can be such a nightmare. Image all the vehicles in the motor pool...the Hummers, the M2/M3s, the M1 tanks, the 5 tons and 2 1/2 ton trucks, the M113's, the LAV/Strykers, Hemmits, M88's, whatever the artillery brigade uses, FAVs, all of them use different parts. A generator/alternator off an M113 will not fit in a Bradley or a M1, and vice versa. About the only things interchangable are nuts and bolts, a few gaskets, sparkplugs and glowplugs, and maybe headlights. Real parts aren't standardized. And don't even get started on aircraft parts.

Posted by: Deskmerc at August 28, 2006 05:50 AM (Lrs90)

2 Umm...You forgot to tag five people. Ooh-ooh, pick me!

Posted by: Erin at August 28, 2006 01:40 PM (023Of)

3 Sarah, This is funny. I opened the nearest book, which happened to be Faulkner's _Absalom, Absalom!_. I turned to page 123. There was only one sentence on the page and it was continued from the previous page. It isn't as bad as it sounds.

Posted by: herb at August 29, 2006 04:33 PM (oELOP)

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I thought that this blog would help me understand the world, but sometimes I think the more I read, the less I grok. The Left accuses the Right of being delusional. The Right accuses the Left of being delusional. And which accusation you believe hinges on which worldview you brought to the table in the first place. Neither will convince anyone who doesn't already agree with him. Our world is a sad and fragmented place.

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Saw this a couple of places.

Five things in my purse
1. coupons
2. chapstick
3. Big Red One pen
4. Charlie's old dog tag
5. the wallet Angie Dente tossed out when she moved

Five things in my refrigerator
1. box of wine
2. pre-sliced mushrooms (I don't even have to cut them myself in this country!)
3. Big K Diet Cherry Soda (yep, we're such misers that we drink generic cola)
4. string cheese
5. Reeses Cup cheesecake bites

Five things in my car
1. air freshener
2. a towel to cover the steering wheel so it's not in direct sunlight
3. jumper cables
4. Really, that's it; I hate extra stuff in the car
5.

Five things in my closet
Five? Just FIVE? We lost about 700 sq feet in this move, and we're moving again in less than five months so nearly everything we own is in a closet. I just sent Erin a photo of our two hilarious closets. I don't know if you can properly tell from the photo, but these are huge walk-in closets. Or at least they're meant to be, unless you cram them to the brim.

Yes, that's right, look at all that yarn. And that's not even the stuff I was whittling away for the bears...

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I've kinda gotten away from the blogosphere. I didn't read any blogs while we were moving, and it's been hard to get back in the habit, to be honest. When you're gone for a while, I think you forget what you're missing, that is until I read The Bleat today. I missed Lileks. I had forgotten how...comforting it is to read his bleat. Sometimes I wonder what Gnat will think in fifteen years, how she'll feel about growing up in front of everyone's eyes. It's like being a child celebrity in a small circle. The Bleat is the most intimate blog out there; it's easy for us to rant about politics, but Lileks bares his soul. And gets hate mail, go figure.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:19 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Then you have missed the saga of teh Water Feature. Too funny. Lileks is great.

Posted by: Pamela at June 30, 2006 11:01 AM (afS5+)

2 Mine has been politics/news burnout. Been lovin' my XBox 360 though. Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at June 30, 2006 08:40 PM (9RG5y)

3 I jump there from here every day! )

Posted by: MargeinMI at July 01, 2006 01:25 AM (3AAMe)

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Rob of Gut Rumbles passed away yesterday. That man had a scathing personality and I sure wouldn't want to get on his bad side, but his blog always had something original to say. He often made me laugh, usually at something that no one else would ever say. His voice will be missed.

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We got internet access last night, and I have a million things to say but no time to say them in. I was going to sit and blog this afternoon, but the husband got done with class early, so I'll go back to the hotel to be with him and the pup. Tomorrow we are officially moving into our apartment though, so there will be no reason why I can't blog.

Stay tuned...

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Tammi is so freaking awesome. She wrote and told me what needed to be done to get Insight to read mu.nu blogs. She rules. And now I can blog. But first...Olive Garden.

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Pixy saved the day again, it appears. I guess he changed servers for mu.nu and I didn't know to redirect my site. But now it appears to be working! If we ever have this trouble again, know that my site also appears at its home in Munuviana: http://tryingtogrok.mu.nu

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My mom was having a hard time getting into my website over the weekend for some reason, so she googled my site to try to access it that way. If you've been following my site for a few years, you may remember the day I got Lefty-lanched, when hundreds of people came to my website to tell me how dumb I am. My mom ended up back in the middle of that mess via google, and what she found really surprised me when she told me today.

Someone didn't like a blog post I wrote. They thought it was dumb and mathematically unsound. So he wrote a post about what an idiot I am. I personally think that's in very poor taste, but whatever, it was his choice for his hate-filled website. But his comments section went too far. Apparently some commenter published my name, address, and phone number, and the contact info for my parents as well. Thankfully, other commenters thought that was a low blow and the owner of the site took the info down. But, man: I just realized that two years ago I was personally attacked for something I said online. People who disagreed with me seriously meant to hurt me. And I didn't even know it until today.

It's funny because at that time, I got some really hateful comments. This site had nasty comments too -- including the ones that said that my husband left his wedding ring home from Iraq so he could get laid -- but this other blog owner also got a handful of comments defending me. It was nice to read this comment:

I saw all of this via cruel.com, and really don't get why everyone piled on. It didn't seem to me that she was doing a stat analysis so much as making a (not very carefully worded) point about reporting bias highlighting certain aspects of a poll already suffering from several questions that presented insufficient response choices to options that begged other questions.

I was not under the impression that she literally thought that only 615 people in the entire United States responded in a certain way to question quoted above. In fact, it was obvious to me that she wasn't. To think that's what she meant, you'd have to assume an almost non-functional level of stupidity. I guess the assumption of simple-mindedness was in place because of the general trend for lefties to view righties as intellectually inferior, for the simple thought crime of not being lefties.

Coming from cruel.com, I'm used to good quality links of people making asses of themselves. I'm still waiting for the punchline on this one, and I can't tell if the intended stupidity was supposed to be the original blog entry on tryingtogrok or all of this odd, over-the-top follow up.

Now that's some common ground I can enjoy! (emphasis mine)

I've been thinking a lot about comments these days. Lots of the big right-leaning sites don't even have comments sections, and I can completely understand why. Charles Johnson has to answer for everything that's written on his blog, when he himself only posts links and pithy snippets. But he's a "racist" and a "fascist" because of his comments section. I've often wondered how Markos Zuniga lets people post the crazy things they say under the umbrella of his site. No one takes note of the diarist; they just attribute the whole thing to Zuniga.

So what's our relationship to our comments? The other day I somehow managed to get a comment from a White Power site. I don't know how they found me or what they thought they read in my words, but there they were. Does it make me a white supremacist because someone thought he had identified me as one? Am I a religious fundamentalist just because Will Sommerset called me one?

A lot of times I've just considered shutting my comments section down. But I guess I've grown accustomed to the noise.

Posted by: Sarah at 10:53 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 The haters think but calling people names it dulls their pain. Their pain of self hate and drepression brought on by their believe in a negative ideology. I had a slight taste of that myself this week. http://jameshudnall.com/blog.php?/weblog/secular_religious_zealots_in_action/

Posted by: James Hudnall at April 17, 2006 07:04 PM (F+Wqc)

2 What vakue would the blog have to you without a comments section? How would you know anyone was listening? Needless to say, though, I take issue with the person you quote. As if "righties" treat "lefties" as THEIR intellectual equals or superiors. Yeah, I'm always warmed by the respect with which Ann Coulter treats people who disagree with her.

Posted by: Pericles at April 17, 2006 07:07 PM (eKf5G)

3 Argh. Typos. I should have proofread that. "The haters think by calling people names it'll dull their pain. Their pain of self hate and drepression brought on by their belief in a negative ideology." Leftism is largely based on angry emotions and that comes largely from depression. The left wing elites feed that negative reinforcement. It has become a cult of self hate kind of like the Palestianian jihadists are trapped in a death cult.

Posted by: James Hudnall at April 17, 2006 07:12 PM (F+Wqc)

4 "What vakue would the blog have to you without a comments section? How would you know anyone was listening?" There's always e-mail. Works for me. Never had a comments section since I started in 2002.

Posted by: Amritas at April 17, 2006 08:06 PM (mb59o)

5 James---Thanks for proving my point about the level of intellectual respect that the left gets from the right.

Posted by: Pericles at April 17, 2006 08:27 PM (eKf5G)

6 I don't believe I've ever gone onto someone else's site and made a confrontational comment. If I think the person is full of baloney, I'll just move on and likely not ever return. Life is too short to be going onto people's sites to pick a fight.

Posted by: Jim - PRS at April 17, 2006 10:13 PM (njBz/)

7 I only wish I had the courage to write about some of the stuff you've written about. I know that my skin isn't thick enough to handle the kinds of comments you receive...I would have shut down the section long ago. Thanks for being gutsy and putting it out there!

Posted by: Nicole at April 18, 2006 08:02 PM (Sa9Kb)

8 Wait. You're not? (just kidding... I think)

Posted by: Will Somerset at April 19, 2006 12:04 AM (eIQfa)

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One of my friends is thinking of starting a blog. This friend is quite shy and introverted, so we were talking about the pros and cons of blogging. She doesn't know if she wants to be anonymous or open, if she wants a family-centered blog or one where she talks about deeper stuff. And she's very concerned about who might read her blog. Because you never know.

I told her that sometimes you'd be surprised who reads your stuff: your first grade teacher, your husband's old commander, or your parents' next door neighbor (yikes to all of those). And I told her that even if she has an anonymous blog, someone might still find her: both a friend from high school and our local lawyer recognized me.

The funny thing about blogging is that even if you never say who you are, strangers will read about the best and worst days of your life. I've been enjoying reading knitting blogs lately, and I've been privy to some very personal stories. I gasped when the Etherknitter's husband's tibia popped through his leg. I choked up when Debi gave Augie his sweater. My heart leapt back on the train with Squeeky's mom. And I cried with Jeanie when her son lost his best friend. I don't know these people from Adam, but I am in on their lives. I am thinking about them. I am cheering on their intarsia. And for moments, when I am engrossed in a particular post, I feel like I am a friend.

For all the headaches and heartaches, blogging has been very rewarding for me. I never would've known Bunker if it hadn't been for blogging. I never would've gotten an email from Ben Stein or gotten published in a book without blogging. And I never would've found so many people who cheer me on.

So even though I think about quitting every single day, I'm still here.

Posted by: Sarah at 01:42 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 I think she should go for it! You inspired me to start me blog. I never really read blog until I read yours and then it became and obession. I truly enjoy it. There are days when I can think of nothing to write, but then I read other pages and I'm moved to write. OUR shy, introverted friend has some very wonderfull things to add to the blogging world and I can't wait to hear what she has to say. Baby steps grasshopper! That is all you need!

Posted by: Vonn at March 29, 2006 07:04 PM (dEgRi)

2 I sometimes think about quitting too. But YOU are not allowed to quit, Sarah!

Posted by: annika at March 30, 2006 12:57 AM (fxTDF)

3 I am quiet and an introvert myself. Blogging and almost 8 years as a military spouse has helped me to talk to strangers, and be more willing speak up more. The only bad side - I vented once, she read it, she didn't like it, she told who knows what to her husband, my husband lost a friend. All because of my frustration of trying to keep a woman with a drinking problem from driving home. Otherwise, I love it. Great way to clear the mind of things you are thinking about and trying to process. HH6

Posted by: Household6 at March 30, 2006 02:02 AM (Gj0PV)

4 I'm occasionally tempted by the possibility of starting my own blog, but I'm daunted by the time it takes. I've been invited to join a group blog of people in my field, and maybe I should reconsider accepting that offer. For me, the big dilemma is that if I am blogging under my own name, then I am going to feel an obligation to put a lot of time into each post, because it would be humiliating to put something out there that I later regret. If I just do it as "Pericles" then I take a lot less risk. On the other hand, it lets me say a lot less, and most people probably find anonymous blogs less interesting. I expect that people here will be torn on what advice to give me: The world doesn't need another liberal blog, but maybe it will keep him too busy to post here!

Posted by: Pericles at March 30, 2006 07:32 AM (eKf5G)

5 Sarah, I too enjoy reading your blog. Too bad you'll be leaving Germany just as we are getting back. Angie and I joke that I should move into her old house. Wouldn't that be funny. Well keep up the good work. PS love the quotes on this site-Vicki

Posted by: Vicki at March 30, 2006 10:29 AM (9TGkZ)

6 Pericles...I've told Sarah before that I think you should blog. I would actually read it (even though you are one of "them") :-) And for our wanna-be blogger friend...My only advice would be to make up nick names for your hubby, your child, and yourself. I'm contemplating going through my blog and editing all the times I used our real names...I never want someone I don't like googling my name and finding my site. Even though the information I'm putting out there is for everyone to see, they don't necessarily need to know that it's me.

Posted by: Erin at March 30, 2006 12:48 PM (l3CR4)

7 It's all fine & good to be anonymous... until someone keeps calling you by your real name in the comments hahahaha

Posted by: the girl at March 31, 2006 07:57 AM (FmIVz)

8 Most would probably say that I am very shy and introverted as well but I think that the expression of writing is different for some reason, so I think your friend will find it to be very easy. Things will flow I never thought I would enjoy it but I have surprised myself.

Posted by: Nicole at March 31, 2006 10:59 AM (Sa9Kb)

9 The girl, I had to go check to see if I was guilty of that...and I so AM. I'm sorry! :-) And I've thought about that on my site too...do you tell everyone that you want to be anonymous, and not to use your real name?

Posted by: Erin at March 31, 2006 12:48 PM (/vUGb)

10 Thank you for crying with me, and don't stop blogging -- I just got here!

Posted by: Jeanie at April 02, 2006 01:41 AM (AOZRE)

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The problem here, Mr Silly, is that you put yourself on a pedestal that I simply don't put myself on. I have never claimed to be intelligent or all-knowing. I don't think I'm very smart at all, which is the whole reason I named my blog what I did. If I already had all the answers, I wouldn't be trying to grok. I really meant my post to be a question: why aren't these Saddam tapes important? If someone has a real answer to that question, I'm willing to listen to it and learn from it. But your condescension is completely unwarranted. All is does is turn me off and make me skip over your comments. If you really have something to add to the conversation, or something you think I can learn from Your Almighty And Infinite Wisdom, then stop writing like a complete douche. I don't care about your List Of People Who Are Smarter Than Sarah. What does memorizing Homer have to do with understanding foreign relations and WMDs? I can play that game too: I can speak Swedish, which obviously makes me much more intelligent in all realms than Mr Silly, who can't speak Swedish. And you say I have faulty reasoning? I'm sorry, but all the degrees in classics in the world don't make you an expert on Iraq, any more than I am an expert! So if you have an argument to lay out *pertaining to the blog post at hand* please present it in a respectful way. Otherwise, you've done nothing to build up my intelligence or illuminate other points of view. All your present attitude does is make me roll my eyes and ignore your comments.

Jesus Tapdancing Christ, I still can't believe you gave me a lecture on how "we educated people" use something called the scientific method blah blah blah. Get over yourself.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:34 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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