Friday, November 10, 2006

Dirty Little Secret #38

My blog is not a secret.

Technically, it never was. There was always Amy, and we have been linked together in this blogosphere since the inception of CAC and my collection of dirty secrets. This blog has never been exactly what I intended it to be; initially I thought that I would incite controversy amongst the mommies by confessing such gems as “I don’t buy organic milk." Along the way, if other people in my life annoyed me I figured that I might air my grievances here, as well.

If you’ve read my previous two posts, you have to realize that with the size of my superiority complex eventually everyone annoys me.

As a side note, it’s true that I buy neither organic milk, nor produce.

What I’ve noticed is that secrets are hard to keep. One day, a few weeks into my covert life as a blogger, one of the participants at Tuesday Fight Club mentioned posting some information on her blog. I was so excited I could barely breathe.

“A blog? You have a blog? I HAVE A BLOG!”

I was so excited that I told everyone in Tuesday Fight Club, when I hit “reply all.” But that was lucky, because there were more out there. Soon, another jumped on the bandwagon. It makes me ridiculously happy to have the opportunity to keep up with people with whom I might otherwise have lost touch.

I found myself blurting out the news here and there. A friend from college sent a blog detailing updates of her toddler. I eagerly confessed. She returned with news of her own private space to post her ruminations and frustrations.

A friend in Monterey with whom I occasionally exchange emails sent a newsy update with photos. It was too much to hold back that she could find photos and updates about us on my blog.

My husband has friends from college, who are married in Austin, TX. They keep a family blog that I have checked in on for the past two years, and one night I felt the need to de-lurk.

A few old friends from high school are out there, too. Isn’t Google great? And my cousin, himself a blogger, regularly checks in here.

As for what I’ve revealed, it turns out that I am mostly unveiling things I’ve kept secret from myself. There are people out there in whom I have not confided if only because it is always nice to have a private place. There is a pattern to my revelations: people from my life in MN, friends with whom I am not close, and chosen individuals from my distant past.

Now, the possibility exists that I have been inadvertently outed. And that’s okay. I had a visitor here tonight from Melrose, MA that I think I may know quite well. There’s a nifty little tool called a Sitemeter that tells me where you are, and how you got here. If you’re out there, pull up a chair and stay a while. Leave a comment here or there. Join the party and meet some fabulous new people.

These may be my secrets, but I have nothing here to hide.

8 comments:

Amy said...

I changed my alias.

annulla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Don't worry, I'm not your mother.

Anonymous said...

Or my mil. :) (on my site, that is).

Sandy said...

I'm sorry you and your sis have been outed, but I do love reading about your covert life because, let's face it, your dirty little secrets are the same secrets most of us mommies have.

Heather said...

My Mom and her sisters are now readers of my blog. They find it entertaining. At least someone does I guess. But no complaining about them on my blog!

Anonymous said...

My family (now) knows about my blog, so I'm careful. What was weird was when people from the church I grew up in somehow found it (she won't admit it, but I bet my mom blabbed). I'm semi-transparent. I don't talk about my job search/teaching in incriminating detail, I try not to complain about DH and I *never* talk about sex, and unfortunately, I don't feel safe enough to talk about religion with any candor -- because of my parents and old church people.

Hmm. What the hell *do* I talk about??? ;)

Oh, and I'd love to get together over Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Strangely, I don't know anyone in real life that has also confessed to having a blog. I'm sure those people are out there, but so far my blog world has not intersected much with real life. And no, my parents don't read my blog. ;-)