Skip to main content

The world around me

Sometimes I click on the "Next Blog" link at the top of my blog. In my self-centered existence, I often forget that there are millions of people on this earth who have lives that are as important and meaningful to them as my (pretty boring) life is to me.

Usually, when I happen upon a blog, I curse myself for not knowing another language (maybe Obama IS on to something). I have seen blogs written in about a half dozen different languages, and I have little to no idea what they say. I can probably recognize about 30 or 40 French words that have not left my memory from three years of French in high school and maybe 20 or so Spanish words thanks to Dora and Sesame Street, but that is it and that does not help much.

It is weird yet cool to me to experience others' lives in this medium. I have read about numerous vacations, babies, moves, art projects, dinners, deaths, etc. My visit to one site was akin to checking out Playgirl magazine. I sometimes feel as if I know these people (not the naked guys), even if I only happen by their blog one time; it is as if they could be someone from college or a client from across the country. Sometimes I find myself relating to a post or a comment. But other than posting a comment once on a Pens' fan's blog (that I found via the Empty Netters blog on the P-G), I have yet to post a comment on a stranger's site. It seems intrusive, even though their blog is there for all to see.

But there is a certain sanctuary that comes with talking to a stranger; you don't have to worry about someone you know judging you or looking down on you, or just knowing your business. Being open, I have found, has its drawbacks. Some friends feel they should be able to tell me anything, regardless if it will hurt my feelings. I appreciate honesty, but I don't really care if my outfit is not up to Clinton and Stacey's standards from What Not to Wear, so please don't bother telling me this over and over again. And that is the beauty of going off into this unknown world; you can go to a place where nobody knows your name, which sometimes is nice.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great insight Fancie! It's a joy to read you blog!

Wishing you the best from Lori in Michigan!
July 26, 2008 at 8:55 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's build something together!

That is one of my favorite slogan's (Or is that a tagline? Over a year removed from a design firm, and I can no longer remember). It belongs to Lowe's, although I am more of a Home Depot gal. But suffice it to say if someone handed me a $5,000 gift card to Home Depot (or Lowe's), I would be ecstatic. If I had $10,000 to spend, you could hear my shouts of joy from miles away. The things I could do with that money. Well, the things I could have Brian do with that money anyway. I love walking around Home Depot and admiring the fancy bathroom sinks and tubs. I look at the lighting and think about where I would put each fixture. I touch textured and colorful tiles and wistfully look at the fancy kitchen cabinets. I admire the various carpet styles and blinds. I look at the fancy front-loading washer and wonder what it must be like to have a steam dryer. I even look longingly at the vacuum cleaners because I can no longer buy a replacement filter for my eight year old mo...
1 comment
Read more

Summer in review

This summer I made it a point to try to take at least one pic of Jordan whenever we went somewhere, which most often was a park. I wanted to capture all the great, fun things we did this summer, knowing that it was probably going to be my last summer not working for quite some time. So here goes. I have expressed my love of Frick Park, particularly Blue Slide Park, in other posts ; it really is one of our favorites. And this summer marked the first one I did not feel the need to follow J around like a little puppy dog. I actually let her run around and explore, though, admittedly, I would panic if more than three minutes went by and I had not seen her. In the pics above, J is at the end of the blue slide, and then hanging several feet above concrete (which scared the crap out of me). We also visited another section of Frick Park, the area on the corner of Braddock and Forbes, a few times. There is not as much to do as Blue Slide, but we go there to mix things up a bit. In the p...
2 comments
Read more

If only I had taken pictures of my detoured drive

When I moved to the Burgh just over 14 years ago, I had a lot of anxiety about getting from "here" to "there." I found the city, which is triangular, and even some of the suburbs quite confusing. On top of that, a lot of the signs were of little help. Clearly they were put up by either natives who had no need for directions or people with a sick sense of humor who thought it would be funny to put signs in random places, leaving off important roads. At some point, I got over that fear of driving to a new building downtown. I don't recall when it happened, but eventually I just figured most of the city out; and when I had to head to a new place, I just drove around, no longer with a feeling of dread, knowing I would eventually get there. But on Sunday morning, that awful, long-ago feeling returned, thanks to the closure of the outbound Fort Pitt Tunnels. I had to pick my mother up from the airport, so there was no avoiding it. (For some reason, my family think...
4 comments
Read more