Thursday, January 29, 2009

When worlds collide

Its funny how things can so quickly snowball.

In just a few days this blog will be a year old.

I can't say that I'm proud of every post I've ever written (notice there is no link back to good ol' post #1) but I'm not ashamed, embarrassed nor do I feel guilty about any of the things I've written.

This is solely a personal blog, and by "putting myself out there", I'm sharing with the world the thoughts and feelings that I wish to share, and exercising my 'writing brain' at the same time.

Have there been things I haven't written about here?

You'd better believe it.

I don't talk politics or religion or about my Hubby's job -- or mine, for that matter, mostly because the thought of having to explain or justify myself to someone makes me gnash my teeth together and that's not covered by my dental plan. I'm not the "everything has to be roses" type, but writing a post about how I feel about our new president just isn't the right forum to invite a dignified debate. (That I do on Twitter, where it belongs. heh...)

I might speak about work in general, but I otherwise make no connections between this public persona and the shoes I fill while sitting in my tiny, windowless office every day.

Call me a wimp, call me boring, because, yeah, I probably am. (Just don't tell me I'm like my mother. That I don't do so well with.)

Above all else I'm pretty much an open book. The truth of the matter is that not much happens in my life that is shocking or taboo or dramatic. There is much love and for the most part, peace in my personal life. We have the usual married life and family woes paired with the crazy things my kids say and do that make me realize I may just not be the one in control here. And then there's the stupid things I do that make me feel like a close relative of Lucille Ball. But I choose to laugh at myself and really can get over my physical and social snafus pretty quickly.

But this week? That personal life and my work life collided in a pretty major way.

It started on Monday morning during my team's weekly conference call. Apparently an old co-worker friend is in the market for a new job and had called to ask my boss to be a reference. Somehow, in that conversation, she mentioned that she liked my blog. (We've connected on Twitter and Facebook so she sees my feed broadcast there.)

So Bossman checked it out. He thought, "This is pretty cool. And I've heard that these 'blog things' can be useful to people in business." And he started one of his own.

Somehow all these things came up during this Monday morning call and we started talking Facebook and Twitter and branding and identity and online this and webby that and before you know it, Bossman is following me on Twitter and I've promised to chat with him and share The Great Secrets of The Bloggy Universe.

I've chatted with quite a few of my online friends and know that when some of your "in real life" friends, family and co-workers found your blogs you were none too happy about it. But seriously? I just feel "MEH" about it. Some of my family members have read my blog for quite awhile and Hubs periodically brings it up at work to show office friends, so I guess I was sort of eased into the idea, and besides, as I've said -- I'm pretty vanilla. Yogurt. On a saltine cracker.

I thought it was cool that they were interested. I'm proud of my blog and what I write. Even when I don't really have anything to say so I interview my four year old.

But while the five or six of us chatted, like a silly goof, I updated my Facebook status to read:
"Colleen is chatting with her boss about social networking."
Forward to a marketing department lunch on Tuesday. Facebook is mentioned and someone I'm "friends" with asks what my status meant. Long story short...my blog comes up again. And somehow, in just a few minutes, lunch becomes the Mommy Always Wins Show.

Everyone is asking questions, and I'm surprised when I answer that I sound more like bloggers I admire than I thought I was. I don't think any of my co-workers knew this Bloggy Universe existed -- or if they did, certainly real people didn't actually BLOG. Certainly those people don't really get PAID for what they write. And above all else, those people don't really KNOW each other.

Boy, did I blow their minds.

{Oh, and new in-real-life-reader-friends: comments are to bloggers what crack is to Amy Winehouse. If you didn't do so well on the SAT that means click that "X comments" link and tell me that you like what I wrote. Wink-wink.}

21 comments:

Laski said...

Seriously, people who don't blog have NO idea!

I mean, you can talk about silly stuff, post pictures, make people cry, throw up a review (and get/give free stuff), talk about your past/future/dreams, rant and rave . . . I mean, it is like a girlfriend who lets you have the floor ALL THE TIME!

I swear if my real and blog worlds ever collided . . . *shiver* I just can't imagine.

Aracely said...

So relieved to know you're not ashamed of the medicine cabinet post.

If I had real friends and real co-workers I'd love for them to know Supermommy. ;-)

Mama Smurf said...

My mom announced at the holidays to my house full of family that I have a blog and told them how to find it. I can't explain why but I was mortified. Embarrassed. I'm over it now. And found out that several of my family members already new about it and had been reading it for a while now. I had no idea.

maggie said...

I am careful about what I say on my blog about politics, religion, my job (well, when I'm working again), Tom's job and other things that I wouldn't want to become an issue with an employer or just others in certain situations. That said, one family member reads my blog, and I had a meltdown at the thought that another might just because it would inhibit my voice somehow. Now I don't care as much about that. Also, I have a post in drafts that might need to come out that touches on some of the above, but I don't know if I'll go for it or not considering who might be reading. It's a tough call. So far I've been playing it safe.

It's gotta feel kind of weird today with so many real life folks, no?

Jean said...

So funny - this all recently happened to me too. Bosses read my blogs, co-workers joined facebook, ALL of family joined facebook. Nothing is private anymore and now I have NOWHERE to vent how I really feel. I guess now I understand why people sign up with fake names and have pen names for books.

Melisa Wells said...

Hi Amy,
I decided to leave you some crack today. (That reference was hilarious!)

As I tweeted to you that day, my co-workers talk about my having a blog sometimes and it drives me nuts. I don't talk about work specifically either but I do not want any of them reading my stuff. (of course, if they *were* to do that, I couldn't stop it anyway) I prefer to not talk about my outside-of-work life to my co-workers much. Working at a nail salon, the environment is way more gossipy, petty, and all that than a normal workplace; I don't like to give anybody anything to work with. :) (And, funny, NONE of my co-workers even use the internet! It's like I'm working in Truvy's salon in Steel Magnolias or something!)

Anonymous said...

Hi, My Name is Dory, and I am a Total Comment Whore.

A lot of my IRL people know about and read my blog which most of the time is ok. But sometimes I want to totally rip on my stupid step-brother and I can't.

Dory

Lauren @ mostly i run said...

It was a bit weird when some people I know in real life found out about my blog. It's still semi secret. I don't announce it, and it's not linked to my Facebook account. But if you know me and stumble upon it, I don't have a problem with it. It just might take a while to figure out who the blog author is :)

I don't know why I'm more OK with complete strangers reading about the goofy stuff I post!

Anonymous said...

It's funny--you're the fourth person this week who has mentioned the workplace being all over blogging. Like offices JUST discovered it or something!

You are not a wimp--certain things are kept out of my blog. It's self-preservation, perhaps. Although I just shared an awful lot about my breasts today...

Cynthia said...

Wow...I think I would have wanted to hide. I kind of like keeping worlds separate.

It reminds me of when relationship George, and friend George collided on Seinfeld;)

Marni's Organized Mess said...

That is soo awesome!! Congrats to you girl!

Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] said...

Hello, Colleen's real-life friends! Welcome to the Wonderful World of the Interwebs!

Melissa said...

I'm careful with things like religion, politics, breastfeeding, and binkies! I agree- I hate defending or explaining myself to anyone.

Glad to know I just gave you another hit of crack with this comment!

Jennifer said...

I think everyone I know knows about my blog. When I almost went back to work, I wondered how I would handle or if I would have to handle talking about my blog.

Roger Miller said...

I'm the same way you are. Don't really care too much, although I wish people would comment - even on my crazy-ass crap that I put up there just to clear my mind. I mean a simple, "uh, dude, are you okay?" would suffice. :)People need to realize that we KNOW when they have visited. Bwah ha ha ha!!

*need to take another pill. :)

Tara R. said...

I've been given the okay to start blogging for my company and am adding accounts on YouTube, MySpace, Twitter... all those social networks. It's weird to be thought of as a blog expert. Boy, do I have them fooled. HA!

Happy2bme said...

I'm careful about what I write anymore because I know more of my family is reading nowadays. I never talk politics or religion. Both are too touchy and I don't want to offend. Then the other part of me thinks hey, this is my blog I should be able to write freely about what I want to write about.

Lovely Lalo-Cha said...

Way to go Ms. Social Networker. He he. I use to do all the Myspace, Twitter, Facebook things, but I found I was more easily stalked on those sites. My Blog is for my inner circle and for the few blog buddies I have made along the way. You do have a knack for blogging I must say. I love your page. It is always smart to filter some items though. I am sure you get your fix of comments. I am psyched when I get more than 2 per post!

Have a good weekend!
LC

Denise said...

You're a brave girl for coming out of the blogger closet at work! Good for you! I look forward to the more mild-mannered content that will be appearing on your site : )
I'm still a closet blogger -- don't even let my husband read it! But I have been called out by family and friends about my facebook page ... now just about every member of hubby's family is on there. Makes it hard to come up with suff to put out there!

Kim H. said...

What? Amy Winehouse does crack?....

Anonymous said...

Geez! You make sound as if I'm the one coming out of the closet. :-) Have a great time at BlissDom and relax, the move and everything will get done and it will be okay (a PITA, but okay). Things usually have a way of working out.

Bossman