Hey guys! Sara from Suburban Oblivion here. Melissa let me crash her blog while she and the rest of the blogosphere are off at BlogHer09 this weekend. Silly girl obviously doesn’t realize what she’s done handing me the keys while she’s away. Have a good time! she says. Anything goes! she says. Well let me tell you, I’ve taken a peek into her shoe closet, and me and those black stilettos have a date this weekend. Oh, and there is the cutest black dress hanging in the back…She won’t mind, will she? I know she won’t, because if she says a word I’ll spill exactly what I saw in her nightstand drawer, and THAT, my new friends, is taking kinky to a whole new level.
Oh, who am I fooling? If Melissa had some freaky new sex toy, she’d probably tell you all about it herself. With pictures and full instructions for use. (Possibly even video by the looks of some of those dvd’s I found…) She has mastered the art of transparency, something very few bloggers ever do.
Have you ever stopped to think about how much of yourself you put out on your blog? How well do your readers really know you? I’m not talking about identifying details here. I’m talking about you as a person, and your experiences.
Too many bloggers write about topics and not about themselves. Their blogs read either like a how-to book, or a daily diary of their kids activities. (Which, let’s face it, most people don’t want to read because they are too busy taking care of their own kids.)
The blogs I read, and keep coming back to, are the ones where I feel I can really get to know, and relate to the author. Telling me that you made spaghetti for dinner tonight is boring, but telling me you made spaghetti, and throwing in the story about the date you went on at 16 to an Italian restaurant and in an attempt to impress your date told the waiter you wanted ‘spaghetti and his balls’ in Italian, *that* tells me something about you, and makes me want to know more.
People don’t read personal blogs for the writing, they read to seek a connection. The best writers are those who offer their readers themselves, warts and all.
It can be hard putting yourself out there sometimes. It takes guts to write about the things that make us human, to admit, in a very public forum, that we have weaknesses like everyone else. We open ourselves up to criticism, both from our readers and from those who know us IRL. Fortunately, those are usually few and far between. It’s generally our own fears that hold us back from expressing ourselves fully.
Why not start now?
I happen to have in my greedy little hands an extra invite to Google Voice, that fabulous service everyone has been raving about. I thought about running a contest on this post, something like “Show me your tits and I’ll give you a Google Voice invite!”, but then I realized I’m out of Malibu, and with Melissa out of town it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, soooooo, how we are going to play is this- Leave a comment and tell me something you’ve always wanted to write about on your blog, but have been too afraid or embarrassed to. (You don’t have to actually write about it, but opening up that line of thought will be a good first step.) Have you always wanted to talk about your sex life? How much you hate your sister? How you are still harboring a crush on Rick Astley?
Leave your “I wish I could write about _______ on my blog” comment below, and when Melissa gets back, the best comment will net you a Google Voice invite, so you can join the rest of the cool kids and laugh at the dorks still waiting in line.
Thanks Melissa for letting me play borrow your shit blog-sit while you are away. I promise I’m taking great care of the place. Oh yeah, and that little beaded purse of yours that you love so much? Never left the closet. Honest.
Sara is a blogger and social media slut with a passion for high heels, imported chocolate, and all things technology. Online she can be found playing around on all the newest social media sites, but currently makes Twitter (@subrbanoblivion) , Facebook , and Friendfeed her home spots. She blogs at Suburban Oblivion, but can also be found propping her stilettos up on the desk as co-editor to the up-and-coming humor site, the Daily Shite .
I wish I could write the whole ugly truth about my dysfunctional/alcoholic/cross-addicted/hyper-religious/holier-than-thou/afraid-to-hug/cold-as-ice twisted family on my blog.
Even though it’s anonymous, it’s probably not as anonymous as I think and I’m not ready for estrangement — yet — but getting close!
Suburban Oblivion you speak the truth. One of the reasons I love this blog and others like it is the candor. It is very hard to be open and honest, even under a nome de plume. Why? See first paragraph.
Well, I think my blog is fairly shameless in that I blog whatever I’m thinking. I mean really, it’s not too many people who will admit to having a complete drunken meltdown on their blog but I did it. (I should delete it, I’m sure.)
I guess I’d *really* love to just say who the “experiment” is.
My old blog had and entire post dedicated to my love of all things google, just so you know.
And to anyone who wants a place to dish their dirty laundry you can borrow my blog. I’m fairly certain no one you know reads it and it can’t possibly be as bad as the truths I unleash. 😉
I never used to hold anything back on my blog. I would rant about my family and dish about my latest dating horrors. But now that 98% of the people I know IRL are online.. I have to start censoring things.
So, I simply wish I could write about reality on my blog. Maybe I should start borrowing people’s blogs when I have something really personal I need to get out there. We’ll see.
great post sara, i’m sure melissa will be proud!
I wish I could write about what I -really- think of my customers. Great customers are easy, but wouldn’t it be great to talk about what a pain in the ass someone was, and told the world who they are and everything?
I already am an open book regarding my family, friends, personal life – so much so that i think people get bored of it. But, a nice post about the girl at Anything Medical that didn’t take her medications today, and expects me to throw away all the work i’ve done and start over while wondering why it isn’t done yet- would be way cool.
P.S – Before, i started reading this, I was doing a silent inventory in my head of pics my hubby has of my tits, trying to decide which would be the best to post here. (Told ya i’m an open book)
I love this, and I already ran off to check out your blog.
My ex husband’s wife reads my blog (NOT by invitation) and I’d love to blog more about what a raving bitch she is, but I won’t give her the satisfaction.
Welcome Sara! Love this post. So funny that you bring this up because I was just thinking about this the other day after I posted. I thought maybe it was too personal & people wouldn’t like it because of that. A lot of blogs really aren’t personal but I like reading the more personal ones myself, too. It makes me feel better to know that the more personal way is the way to go. Thanks.
I am not in the know about Google voice yet. But I will add mine here because I need to.
I wish I could blog about how awful it was growing up with my mother and how she is one of those people that should not have had kids. But alas she knows my blog address and takes everything VERY seriously. I get tattled on by my mother to my grandmother! Ugh that woman!
Thanks for letting me vent it!
Hyla