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Monday, July 17, 2006

Heads in the clouds


Well on his way, his head in a cloud,
The man of a thousand voices, talking perfectly loud.
But nobody ever hears him,
Or the sound he appears to make.
And he never seems to notice .....

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down.
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.
--Fool on the hill, the Beatles
There are a select group of blogs I read on a regular basis. Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I can actually know people based what they write in their blogs. Or I fool myself into thinking they can know me based on what I write in my blog.

It's not practical when you think about it. Reading a blog is like looking through one of those hotel room peepholes. You only see a small portion of the world and it is skewed at best.

I actually think I say more in my blog about myself than I would if I were writing one of those mindnumbing daily journal type blogs. But still, it no more reflects the complete me than Van Gogh's Starry Night reflected the complete Vincent.

You can't really know what it is like to be another person. Shoot,most of us struggle just to know what it is like being ourselves. But you want other people to know you, don't you? And you want them to like you, too. Protest all you want, but no matter how many times any of you say, "I don't care what anyone thinks about blah, blah, blah..." you are really screaming to be understood and accepted.

And then paradoxically, we hide in our blogs, afraid someone is going to see us. This is why many writers prefer fiction to fact. Scratch a novelist and you're going to find someone hiding behind a plot they "created." All fiction is based on fact. Fiction just allows you to tidy up reality and make it a tad more palatable. Fiction also allows you to recreate reality in a way you wish it was. It also allows you to fast forward through the boring bits of our existence.

So isn't blogging just one big game of hide and seek?

God I am full of metaphors today.

14 comments:

Alex Pendragon said...

Bob, ain't that all the truth? You just gave me a great idea for a post.......

Yea, for the most part, I think we DO sorta put a face forward we hope people can accept, and be accepted. Sometimes we lose track of these personas and some asswipe decides he knows you and takes it upon himself to point out what's wrong with you, which to me says alot more about them than it does the object of their dirision. Since most of us will never lay eyes upon each other, I suppose it doesn't matter that much, but it would be a downer to meet Shandi and come away wishing I never had. Ah.....Shandi.....darlin'....put the knife down......

Time said...

If we put a face forward we hope people can accept, I think I blew it with that "girl with pearl earring" image :)

Someday we should all agree to meet at a blogger convention. I'm pretty sure we'd recognize each other. We can bring laptops so we can communicate in case we can't think of things to talk about.

Hayden said...

too funny - I love the idea of a blogger convention where everyone sits around typing into their blogs instead of actually talking!

to me, the fun of blogging is typically the opportunity to explore an idea or emotion more deeply - and hopefully more clearly - than is usually possible in a RT conversation.

of course, with my recent gushing on and on about Jake, that's a tough one to see!

new parents are all the same -

Time said...

Hayden, I would imagine if we all met at a blogger convention there would be a great deal of awkward silences. Though from the way THE Michael describes himself, he would probably fill in the gaps.

As for Jake, he is worthy of his own blog: Jake -- the Dog Blog.

Alex Pendragon said...

Well, I don't have a laptop, but I can lug this iMac to the convention. I'll even bring my webcam along so everybody can get a close up of me while we chat. I hope you don't mind if I actually get up and look over your shoulder as you photoshop yourself onto something. I'll even bring the latex gloves so that the brave amongst us can shake hands, since we seem to avoid all actual human contact. Boy, this is going to make a great episode on "This American LIfe"............")

Time said...

Lights,
Now that is the makings of a reality program.

Anonymous said...

Tim, I always knew you were full of something. Very relieved to hear it's "metaphors."

Time said...

Kristy,
It's that nasty Maytag Metaphor machine. I just can't get it out of the rinse cycle.

Naughti Biscotti said...

I have contemplated this very thing. Sometimes I think that the me in my blog is more closely the real me than anything else I have put forth. It's more of the inside and less of the outside. You may never see the outside of me other than in photos. But, it's not all that impressive anyway. The side you see more closely resembles my soul. Not 100% accurate and still up for interpretation but still pretty damn close.

Yes, I feel like I know you. It's been almost 2 years. It may not be the "real" you but doesn't it come close?

by the way Michael, I'm a real kick-in-the-pants in person. No knives.

Time said...

Shandi, I pretty much think my blog is probably the best representation of me as there is. This is why I get a bit sideways when people don't get it. It means they would never hope to understand me.

I've always thought your blog painted a pretty good picture of you as well. It may not be the way I may have perceived you if I ran into you on the street, but then again few people are.

I think you should reconsider the knives with THE Michael, however.

Naughti Biscotti said...

with recent developments, i have reconsidered the knives. It hurts when someone you think has had plenty of time to get to know you, still doesn't understand the basic concept of you.

Time said...

Cherish, I agree. Being anonymous does give you a certain amount of freedom to take more risks and let people see the real you.

darlingina said...

I live with my head in the clouds and just wish that i could find it in me to express "ME" as wonderfully as you do Tim. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Maybe there's hope for me yet. :o)
Hugs,
gina

Time said...

Gina,
I think you express "you" pretty well. Many of us keep checking on your blog regularly in hopes you'll start expressing yourself some more :)