On Blogging

I'm sure other bloggers have said to themselves 'I should do a blog post about...' and then either they never do or that they find another blogger has done it already. In most cases, I think bloggers try to be original but because we all more or less like the same kind of pop it's bound to happen that similar posts are on different blogs. If you are a blogger does that element of someone posting about a new song or artist first put you off writing your own post? I tend to acknowledge anyone who has written about something first with a link or a mention. I'm sure I have done a post on a topic that someone has already done. However, there are 1000's of blogs out there that we will probably never be aware of. If I ever do a post that someone has done something similar please let me know and I'll amend it. On the other hand should we read lots of blogs and check this in advance or should we just publish what we want? I wonder in years to come will we look back on blogging and regard it as a thing of it's time or maybe even question why we do it at all. I think it's obvious the enjoyment that bloggers get out of their own sites. I think the worst thing to that can happen to a blogger is that he or she becomes egotistical. I hate blogs that ridicule or make snide comments about other bloggers. Blogging has created a myriad world of mini communities. Recently I have been doing more reading, watching movies and old TV series on DVD, going to the cinema and meeting friends. I sit down to write something on my blog and I just go on Youtube for an hour instead. I have to admit I much prefer the real world to blogging. I can't afford to go to concerts in Dublin these days but I miss them. I love the whole atmosphere of a live concert. The same with movies. I went to Drag Me To Hell on my own recently and thought it was just ok. I know if I had gone with someone else I would have enjoyed it more. I think bloggers who post every week or especially every day have a definite high level of self confidence. When other people like what they write it really is a boost. I hate when a blogger slags off an artist and the comments tend to agree with the writer even if they love that artist themselves. Never stop loving the pop you have always loved. If there was a 100 positive comments on a blog post and one negative I'm always more interested in the negative one. I often wonder how does someone maintain a job, a good social life, be in a relationship and blog regularly as well? Something has got to give. Back in 2006 and 2007 I know I blogged regularly because I was at home a lot in the evenings and on my days off work. Most of my friends were in relationships and many were always busy at weekends. I would meet friends on week nights when I was working and then at weekends or bank holidays I had nothing to do. Blogging suddenly filled an empty part of my life. I may work in a book shop but I have never filled my spare time reading. Blogging was like a hobby with feedback. I remember being so happy to get a comment on a post. I don't like pubs and because of that, here in Dublin, it's very hard to meet someone. I would love to be in a relationship. In ways I know I blog because, like the song, I'm scared of lonely. Blogging is like writing a letter to yourself and also to an audience. No matter how big or small that audience is it is still a form of communication. Blogging is unique because it is about elements of both the insular and the extrovert. I remember getting a real buzz from the fact that one blog network site posted one of my posts and then been really hurt when when my blog was described as an 'uncomfortable combination' of popular culture and personal stories. The personal stories dried up after that. However, I think as a blogger you have to go beyond that. Blogging, for me, is about writing whatever you want to say in a truthful and tactful way. I keep on reminding myself what my friend Susan told me about blogging, that is 'do it for yourself and if anyone else likes it then that's a bonus'. What links a lot of our blogs is the music. We all check in to other sites to see what the other person is listening to this week. When I was growing up no one liked the music I liked. I wish I had a friend like the pop bloggers I know through having my blog. Always end a post with a song and here's my favourite re-discovered cover version of the moment. Burns does Bowie. From 1994, here's Pete Burns and Steve Coy of Dead or Alive and a dancetastic version of Rebel Rebel.