Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Happy...Something

So the post right below this one was the 5oth. That only took, what, three years? A nice average of something like 16.67 posts a year. About 1.38 posts per month. Although, as you can see (if you've bothered to look) the posting pattern has not been nearly that regular. It started off with a bang and then it came in sparks and fizzles. Then I became bored with the whole thing and gave it up; consigned it to a cold, lonely corner of the internet, alone, with only the flitting company of the occasional internet drifter, who only paused long enough to see that yes, the blog was still dead. Rather like those who passed by the ruins of Jerusalem all those years ago.
And then, suddenly, new life! But the landscape has changed. The neighbors moved away and someone built a nice coffee shoppe (see how much more sophisticated it looks when you spell it that way?) where their house used to be. Blogging is no longer the craze it once was. Gone are the days when one could expect ten or fifteen comments on a post. Now you are lucky to get two or three.
But perhaps this is not so bad. Yes, the blogging community is smaller now, but it seems to be closer knit group, a group that shares more than amusing anecdotes, but their thoughts about the universe and all of the interesting things happen in it. I am more pleased with those two or three comments, because the authors of those comments have said more than all fifteen of the other ones combined.
And have my posts changed to reflect this new enviroment? They have. I was reading my old posts (because I am that vain) and I was struck with how funny I used to be. Call me Pride, but seriously, I was pretty impressed with myself. I wondered why I couldn't write things like that anymore. Why wasn't I funny?
I guess the reason I don't write funny posts anymore is because of that change in enviroment. I'm not writing to please the masses any more. There aren't any masses to please, for one thing, but also, I really don't care if I get fifteen comments telling me how hilarious I am. I write more serious posts now because I want them to mean something. Yes, my old posts may tell you what to do when you are falling out of a plane and are on fire, but that's all there is to it. You will laugh and then promptly forget. You haven't had any thoughts provoked, you aren't encouraged to see things any differently. I think maybe that is why I don't write funny things any more. I want to do more than just make people laugh. I want to make them think.
Maybe, someday, I will find a way to be both funny and thought provoking. It is possible. I've seen it done.

3 comments:

Dani said...

I like the new post, but I must admit, that when I fly and they are telling us what to do when we crash, I do think back to that post on what to do if I'm crashing and on fire...

Abby said...

They do make me think, but don't forget to give the wonderful gift of laughter to your faithful readers. I hope you come back 50 post from now and are happy with your ideas and comments.

Amy said...

Dear boy,
The depth of your posts do make me think... and they encourage me to write more seriously and make my own readers reflect. But your sense of humor is loved and remembered. Don't leave it out in the cold. Don't think that just because it's funny it doesn't mean something. And, not to inflate your pride, but you already have a pretty good grip on being humorous and thought-provoking.