I'm going to skip now to the next odd thing and save the second occurrence for last (save the best for last!). I got a phone call at work this afternoon from a guy I collaborate with. He wanted to give me an anonymous tip about a project we're working on. He had a solution to a contentious issue we were facing but I guess he thought it might work better if the idea came from me (I have the moderator role in these things) instead of his side. Nice! Thanks man! His suggestion didn't quite work, but it did get us a little further along.
And now for my favourite oddity of the day. I came back from lunch to find this comment left by Anonymous:
In searching for my close friends’ blog on Christmas 2006, I stumbled on A Jill Story. Your story was very inspirational, yet familiar to me. I kept reading. I found your skills as a writer to be phenomenal. Only after reading a few of your life experiences did I realize that I knew who you were. I went to school with you. I started to feel culpable for reading your personal life experiences. I stopped reading. I turned my computer off. The next day I was out with a few of my closest friends. I told them of the guilt that I felt for reading someone’s (that someone being you) blog. My friends are more familiar with blogging and assured me that a blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order and that a blog is meant to give the ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format. Is this true? I do think it’s amazing how many dreams and real life experiences we share. Sometimes reading your blog is like reading my own thoughts. Your blog is very “Sex in the City” Winnipeg Style. I’d like to keep reading but not without your permission. ??????????
I have several things I want to say to Anonymous. First of all, thank you! Your comment means so much to me and I feel truly honoured. Let me tell you though, your anonymity created quite the buzz amongst my friends. Rob and Vince are very curious of your identity. You say that we went to school together, well this covers a lot of territory--elementary school, jr. high, high school, one or both of the two post-secondary institutions I attended, or perhaps even the school where I took my French classes last year. I too am curious but I am not going to ask you to identify yourself (you can if you want. Note that if you choose to comment again you can leave just your first name in the "other" box).
Whether you choose to identify yourself or not I have no problem with you reading my blog. Perhaps you read my blogiversary post where I said:
...there are just some people who I wish did not read my blog. I get kind of possessive about it I guess and there are some people I don't want to share my life with. Call me selfish and immature but I'd just like to shut some people out.
The people I am referring to are not you. Of this I am certain. Although I do kind of like the idea of being someone's guilty pleasure!
Your friends' definition of a blog is correct--welcome to the world of blogging! I should also add that when a person creates a blog she has the option of making it public (as in, anyone can search for it, stumble upon it as you did with mine) or private (like an online diary). A blogger can also choose to only allow certain people to view her posts via a sign in system. I chose to make my blog public knowing the consequences and I write accordingly. You don't need my permission to keep reading, but you have my invite to keep coming back.
I'm happy to hear that we share some things in common. I think blogs are amazing for connecting people who otherwise would never meet. Because you knew me from school, you probably remember me as That Quiet Blonde Girl (with cute shoes?). That's okay, I get that a lot. Everyone thinks I'm shy at first and truthfully, I am very shy (some people are nodding right now, some are shaking their head in complete disbelief). Blogging is one way for me to fight the shyness. I know that I can't be the only one out there who goes through the experiences that I do so I throw them out to the world and hope that they stick somewhere. What some people might be afraid to admit I post it for all the world to see and hope that someone reads it and feels less lonely.
Anonymous, there are days I wish I could write just for you and all the people you represent. If my readers were only strangers or people I don't communicate with anymore I could be free to say so much more. Oh the stories I could tell you! For starters, I could tell you what I REALLY think of Rob and Vince (just kidding, they know I love em' and that they're my best girlfriends-- I mean, guy buddies who jump on me as soon as I come home from a date and demand all the details). It really makes me sad that some of my best stories have to remain behind the zipper. I think I'll get them out some day, somewhere.
Finally, Anonymous, I have to say thank you for giving me the biggest compliment anyone could about my writing style. Sex and the City is definitely an inspiration for me. You know how Carrie narrates the whole show? That's my life, every day. My posts are formed from the constant narration that goes on in my head. It's due in part to my mantra to make every day a good story.
Now I will leave you, and any other anonymous readers with a list of what I think are my best posts (You at least have to read the last two for a laugh):
It's Cool to be Kind
Connect For
Sleeping in Truck's bed?
If this is my future, I'd like to wait for the next bus, thanks
Apartment Stalking
Why Me
My life is a stereo
What am I thinking of?
Hot Yoga. It's not cool
An old flame
Brave and Crazy
The accidental mistress
5 comments:
I think blogging is pretty funny really. I've encountered groups of new people where I've tried to make small talk, and realized that I didn't really have anything they hadn't read before on my blog (since they had all read it through friends of friends). I was like "yeah and then yesterday I did so and so," and they're like "uh, yeah dude, we know -- you blogged about it remember." At one point I just walked away as they kept talking about my life. You can make friends without doing anything really.
And don't even get me started about what happens when you break up a relationship and keep blogging, knowing the other person will keep reading.
There's an episode of Sex and the City where Big reads Carrie's collection of articles. This is during one of the periods when Carrie and Big were not together, just after Big left her to move to Napa. Carrie wrote a lot about her relationship with Big who spent most of the show dealing with commitment and selfishness issues. After reading the articles focused on him, Big says something like, "I had no idea I hurt you that much. It was hard to see it in print." Carrie keeps trying to change the subject (she's only interested in one meaningless night of sex with him) but Big keeps going back to all the things he did. He seems to feel some remorse, but he also seems to really enjoy all the space he gets in her book.
That's fiction. Real life doesn't quite work that way.
Vince coded a way to write
encrypted blog posts. Anyone he gives the password to can read the post. He was supposed to give me a tutorial but I think he's waiting until he's finished the beta version or something like that. I don't know if I would use it anyway because then I'd be excluding my favourite audience--the random and the anonymous.
In regards to the blogiversary post where you said:
...there are just some people who I wish did not read my blog. I get kind of possessive about it I guess and there are some people I don't want to share my life with. Call me selfish and immature but I'd just like to shut some people out.
I think this comment could be directed to me. We were very different people in school. I don’t think you ever liked me. Back then I’d like to admit that my perception of you was defiantly false. I can’t change the past but now after reading your infectious blog, I think you are gifted, witty, and beautiful. I kinda regret not taking the time in the past to find that out. Now that I'm all grown up, and I run into people from school (whether I was friends with them or not), I'm surprised to see what they have become (Engineer's, Pharmacists, Mothers, Entrepreneurs, Social Workers, Nurses, etc.). What I'd really like to say to you is…..
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations on graduating your post-secondary school, Congratulations on your truck, and finding a career that you love.
You’re an inspiration to me.
Anonymous, I have a theory that we went to high school together. I've learned that I can't judge anyone based on who they were in high school. There are two people I consider my closest friends and I've known them since high school. Back then I dated one of them briefly then spent some time not talking to him. The other one I just didn't associate with at all because I didn't think we had anything in common. Meanwhile, the people who I thought I would be friends with forever I don't see much of anymore. In the big picture, those three years don't mean a whole lot.
I can tell you the exact date my life offically began: May 5, 2004. I was 22. It was the day after I cut my long hair off that I started figuring out what I wanted and who I wanted to be. I know it's such a simple thing but I really think I became me once I stopped listening to the so called wisdom that said things like guys only like girls with long pretty hair. I found my success doing things for me and I haven't looked back since (well, I've faltered a few times).
It is pretty amazing how we've turned out, the paths we've taken. Life never ceases to surprise me. I'm a writer and I keep thinking I wish I could have a say in what happens next in my life, but then I realize I never could have imagined what reality does end up handing me.
Keep reading and see if I really have found my recipe for success. Thank you for your honesty, sincerity, and well wishes. I hope you have found your own path to happiness. You have no idea how you have inspired me as well. Should you ever see me on the street or in the mall, please stop me and say hi. I'd love to hear your story.
Ah, it would have to be on a 5th :)
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