Comments on: O Reader

By: Punita

Punita — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 17:28:00 +0000

Rebecca,Thank you so much for writing. I meant to tell when I saw you at church today but I forgot. Your blog is on my list of favorites and also on my list of websites I check out (almost) everyday. Sometimes I am even disappointed when I don't find a new post :)Thanks again!Punita

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 18:49:00 +0000

Dear Anonymous,Thank you for your thoughtful response and for the kind compliments embedded in it (I am grateful to you others, too, but I know who most of you are, so this addressed to "Anonymous" is obviously not for you. But you may read it *wink*).I'm interested in the way you opened your response: that reading a blog is unusual. I thought of beginning the post that way, in fact-- that writing a blog is unusual. But neither is unusual anymore: there are so many blogs and so many blog-readers. Nonetheless, it is weird, isn't it? And I think that's what you mean by "unusual."Anyway, I'm writing to you to ease your mind a bit (though I don't assume it's necessary). You express some level of discomfort with the voyeurism that is reading a blog, maybe especially in reading a blog like mine. You liken it to your "embarrassing" habit of people-watching. But this is different, and I'll tell you why. People in the park, the airport, the mall know themselves to be in public, but they are not always aware of or able to screen from the public eye that which might reveal them in ways they don't like or might embarrass them. On the contrary, in writing this blog, I only reveal what I wish to.Writing is lovely like that: I don't post until I like what I've written. I take care in how I speak about things. I don't talk about that which is really and truly personal or, if I do, the writing is oblique enough that no one but my closest friends know what it refers to. Even in writing recently about my uncle, I chose my details with care, in respect for him and for my family and, indeed, for myself.I don't say all of this in order to assert my privacy (though your comments gave me pause to consider again what I have considered before), but to reassure you that I don't feel invaded by your reading, and that you are not being nearly as voyeuristic as you might sometimes perceive yourself being.Heck. I'm posting this to the internet. To the World-Wide-Web. I can hardly complain that people might, in fact, read it. My amazement and gratitude continue because people like you *want to*.Thank you, again, for reading.-Rebecca

By: Steven Nicholson

Steven Nicholson — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 08:27:00 +0000

There are at least two people in South Africa that read your blog. Add in some readers in Liberia, and you have quite a nice group of African readers. That seems like something to brag about over coffee at a book club. 🙂

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 01:28:00 +0000

I think blogging- particularly the reading of blogs- is a most unusual pursuit. I'm not sure I like it, yet here I am, performing my nightly ritual of checking in at Birches17.You have never met me. A friend reads your blog and suggested it to me. I don't actually know why exactly I read every night, just after I check my email and the weather forecast for tomorrow. Frankly, I have my own friends- people who actually know who I am- and they have their own home repairs, and children with adventures and misadventures, and heartaches, and anticipations. Why do I find it compelling to read about yours?For one, I am a sucker for good writing. I love your Use Of Capital Letters and the gracious benevolence that oozes through your words. I appreciate your thoughtfulness about small things. I particularly appreciate your accounts of family life.Probably, too, there is an element of people-watching to my interest in your blog. Just as I observe (to my husband's embarassment) the small dramas that play out among people at the mall and the park and airport, the little stories of your life are compelling just because they are little stories.But I think I would be embarrassed if I met you. I know too much about your life to make a simple acquaintance. That's the weirdness of blogging.Nonetheless, your posts encourage me. I look forward to them.Thanks for writing.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:50:00 +0000

It's roll call time, right?! Here!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:00:00 +0000

Thank you, Rebecca – your inspiration enlightens my day!

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:32:00 +0000

You are welcome. And thank you for writing. And I do check every weekday for a new post just not on the weekends. However, I don’t always comment as soon as I have read. Sometimes I wait and sometimes – gasp – I don’t comment at all.