Over the weekend at SpouseBUZZ Live, I sat in on a seminar on how to start your own blog. One of the wives asked if it was possible to set her new blog to private so only her friends and family could see it. We bloggers all paused: of course it's possible to do that, but as I sat in the audience surrounded by ArmyWifeToddlerMom, airforcewife and her husband, and with CaliValleyGirl glued to my hip, we all wondered why on earth you'd want to.

When I have childrearing questions, do you think I call people from my real life? Nope, I call ArmyWifeToddlerMom. When I had military questions during deployment, Bunker Mulligan was my man. Amritas helps with linguistics, Deskmerc helps with physics, and Annika is the go-to for all things Goldie Hawn.

It is so strange, this my need of you.

CaliValleyGirl told this wife in the audience that setting her blog to private would effectively cut off her chances of finding a best friend. The thing is, we know more about our blog friends than we usually do about people in our real lives. I follow ArmyWifeToddlerMom's parenting life far more closely than even my neighbors'. I know my blog friends' likes and dislikes before we've ever met in person. When The Girl showed up in Germany, she knew everything about me before I ever picked her up at her hotel. When I asked CaliValleyGirl at the Milblogs Conference if she was surprised we were getting along so well, she shrugged and replied that she was not surprised at all because she already knew she liked me.

I thought about this weekend's conversation a lot this week as I read about the Lileks family's trip to Disneyworld. I have read The Bleat nearly every single day since Jan. 23, 2004. I know everything that's happened to him over the past three years, and I know far more about his life than any of my real world friends' lives. He is my friend, whether he knows it or not, and if he ever set his blog to private I would weep like a baby.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 All I can say is AMEN!!! I have been reading your blog for about a month now and I really enjoy it. I think if we ever meet in person we could get along. To be honest I do not want my friends and family reading my blog. This is my place to vent and be me without the worries of soemone taking something personal.

Posted by: Reasa at May 18, 2007 04:55 PM (JfF5d)

2 Tee hee I remember how "stalker"-ish I felt after the first time we met!

Posted by: The Girl at May 18, 2007 08:43 PM (3xdWY)

3 Not necessarily. Everyone is gonna hate me. cert4examHit the jackpot.,SUNHow did it come to this?,OthersWatch me..

Posted by: kimi at December 22, 2008 09:28 PM (60F6T)

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