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Sunday, May 28, 2006

The Big Empty


Weekends, especially three-day ones, seem to be dead zones in the blogger world. My favorite bloggers don't seem to blog much on weekends. So I turn to Blogger's "Next Blog" feature to fill the void. It's like sitting in front of an old shortwave radio twirling the dial and hearing nothing but static. Occasionally someone will post something interesting, but it is faint and temporary.

I feel so voyeuristic when I click the "Next Blog" button, especially when someone's personal journal blog pops up. Suddenly a total stranger is telling me about their desires, their failures or their arguments with imaginary friends. I want to leave comments on these blogs that says, "Please pull your shades...total strangers can see everything."

My forays into Blogger's "Next Blog" feature this last week has made me wonder. What are we looking for? Do we expect to stumble onto some blog out there with the answers? Would whatever power that motivates life's direction use blogger.com as the forum for unlocking the key to existence? Is this all some fantastic DaVinci code where the pieces to the ultimate puzzle are hidden in the detris of mindless blogs about paint ball strategy or minutia about American Idol winners?

I don't think so. If there is an answer in the blog world, I think it may be a collective one. Perhaps it is just that we are all trying to look inside by turning ourselves inside out in a blog post. It's as if the computer has become our confessional and we sit waiting for affirmation that we are not alone in our sins of being human. We want to know that it is okay to not always know where we are going or if it is the right direction.

I think it is human nature to always look for a sign that we are not alone.

8 comments:

Alex Pendragon said...

Well, if we are NOT alone, I think we are in big trouble when you consider what is heading out into deep space in the form of television signals traveling at the speed of light. If there is some civilization out there with the cabibility to recieve and interpret those faint signals, you could compare it to us sitting here with our "next" buttons. Should they pick up from ABC World News Tonight that someone here discovered faster-than-light travel, all bets are off, and we'll wish we'd never been so loud, because what intelligence in their right mind would allow US of all species off our planet?

Time said...

THE Michael,
The same intelligence that planted its seed here while on a drunken leave from the intergalactic navy. They believed that slogan, "What happens on Earth stays on Earth."

Hayden said...

I'm fascinated by the minds I meet online, the points of view and the creativity. In RT I can't find the diversity, the intelligence, the surprise of different thinking on my own schedule. It's true that you have to click "next" a lot, but now and then I find such an interesting post that I bookmark and hang out, and we "talk."

You're right, weekends are a dead zone, and it's when I'm most likely to have time to catch up. I'm out of sync - but then, I knew that. It's hardly limited to blogging, LOL!

Time said...

Hayden,
I do find fascinating discussions in blogs. But I have had better luck with people who comment on my favorite blogger's blogs than the randomness of "Next Blog." But a true believer would say there isn't any such thing as randomness :)

morningstar said...

ok ok.. as usual i am a day late and a dollar short..... BUT i did read this blog yesterday .. and got lost hitting "next blog" i really did mean to come back and comment....... anyway... here are my thoughts.......

Tim id - i am beginning to believe you must be quite a linguist .. First you surpise and shock me with your response in french.... then because i was bored i hit the "next blog" button yesterday and as i said above went wandering... BUT.. i didn't find ONE english blog after yours... i found Jewish ones.. i found Asian ones... i found one from the Czech republic, i found a number in languages i didn't recognise, i found quite a few in Spanish or Portuguese (i can't tell the difference).. i found one written in teen talk .......i did not find one English one.. not even one french one.........

sighhhh i am beginning to wonder about Your many hidden talents Tim id

morningstar

Time said...

Morningstar,
It's kind of late in the day for you, isn't it? And I'm going to take your comments as compliments. But I never really thought I was hiding anything :)

Time said...

Thanks Cherish,
I'm glad the post struck a chord.

R. said...

What do I look for in a blog? To parrot the late Frank Zappa - Titties and beer.