Heard and Seen
My resident expert says that both blogging and Twitter are becoming
passé: Blogging because no one has time for peeking in on others' lives, hobbies and thoughts; and Tweeting because it has turned into a ferocious culture-war battleground, where even the non-participants are vilified for not taking sides. I am not party to the latter, but I have seen evidence of the former. I hear that new platforms of communication are constantly replacing the old, some of those being now Instagram and Photo Stream and various "chat" things whose names I do not know.
I am thinking that this blog has passed its prime, too. It has been an interesting year. I have enjoyed seeing your lives and works and places where you live and go. It has been good to see some of you doing art works you would not otherwise have done. I hope you have had some enrichment or amusement in these pages, too.
Now I would appreciate your response: if this blog ended about the time one year after it started -October sometime - would it matter much to you? I do know what some of you said last time I asked this, about not posting frequently and "do what you want" and all that. I don't think it is worthwhile having a blog at haphazard intervals. I am not posting for myself. I am wondering what
you think.
I thought it might be nice to see everyones' Christmas once more, but that is the busiest time, so I don't know if that is feasible. We can look in on each other through Instagram - which I personally check monthly, to catch up. And e-mail still exists.
Anyway, I give this a month, more or less.
SO, yesterday being church-at-our-place day and today being cleaning day, with no art time for me - though MARY had some! - we go back to the BALTICS tour.
More Riga
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| Admirable architecture |
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| And some with critters on top |
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| Note the top |
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| Faces in the city |
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| These houses, from three different period, are called the Three Brothers. They were merchant houses, built - right to left - in 1490's, 1640's and later 1660's, in Dutch style from the trade of that time. Note the bearded man in front. He is a survivor of that time, I think. |
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| Looking back from one spot.... |
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| ....and looking forward from the same spot. |
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| Folks on the street |
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| And random passers-by |
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| An owl |
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| maybe a hippo |
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| And storks. These are all made out of rocks and steel. ART. |
Have a happy day.
I'm shocked and disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI understand your feelings because you are the one doing most of the blogging right now. It can get tedious but you are holding yourself to a rigid standard of one post a day. I simply cannot write posts right now, and shouldn't even be writing this comment with all I need to accomplish in the next two hours. I will be able to post again next month when things calm down and that will give less for you to do and more for you to enjoy passively.
I don't care what your resident expert says because I don't feel the same about this blog in particular. Other blogs, yes. Facebook is the thing getting passé and we are using it less and less. Instagram is not interactive (for discussion) and uses only a single picture (and you only look ONCE a month??) Are we trying to be up with the latest trends? I'm certainly not.
I would miss the blog very much because it is the only regular way we have been keeping in contact. Not just you and I (Sarah) but all as a group, even the silent ones. I enjoy seeing the creative projects and travels and sharing mine when I can. I see no reason to stop. But if it has become a burden for you, loosen the self imposed requirements.
Yes, I would miss it.
ReplyDeleteI understand burnout. I blogged for years, and often felt tired of it. I'm glad I did it, though, and now I wish I could get it all printed in a book or something for posterity.
Here's the thing, as I see it. For one, blogging is NOT out of style. There are many thriving blogs. Most of them are "monetized"-- blogs with ads and a constant push for wider readership. In these blogs, the more followers, the more the blogger earns from ads. This blog is not in that category. This blog is just a personal means for keeping up and sharing. Even those monetized blogs often do not have daily post. The trick is to have SUBSCRIPTION. We can put a little subscription box on the sidebar where followers can put in their email address and get an email notification everytime there is a new post. Then, even if days and weeks go by and people stop checking every day, they will still be able to know when there is a post to read. Everyone does that with ALL the blogs and other changeable content websites. Usually bloggers also post on other social media when there is a new post, but that is mainly to gather new followers.
I would definitely be sad if this were closed. It's great to keep up with you and the others who post here. And I enjoy having a place to occasionally show what I do. I think it's been an enjoyable community for the past year.
(By the way, I have a couple things I can post later this week. Wednesday or later, if you have a day you prefer just say so, otherwise I'll just do it when I can.)
ReplyDeleteThe rocks and steel art is really cool. I thought the maybe hippo was a dog when I first saw the picture, but maybe it looked different in person. :)
ReplyDeleteI also would be sad. I know I'm not able to catch much here, but I would particularly be sad for Katrina who highly values the things she finds here and it's the only place She does check almost everyday. (In fact the only 2 things she checks are her email and this blog) I agree that fewer posts would be better than none.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would like to point out that I (that's me.. For real) actually got to do some art re other day and a little while back too. Now this may seem silly as infrequently as it happens, but it would've never happened a all if it weren't for you Sarah ( you have no idea how true that is) and this blog. (Hugs)
ReplyDeleteWell and well. I guess today is different from yesterday. Thanks everybody for giving your opinion, and positive ones. I heard from a couple others in different formulas, too.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify. Burnout is not the problem. I don't mind posting. Any of you not having time to post is not the problem. I very, very well know the times of having no time to breathe, let alone attend to anything on a computer. No problem. I was thinking that maybe this was not at all interesting for anybody, in which case it would be fruitless to continue. If you say not, then not. That's all I needed to know. The schedule may get adjusted, but this will go on.
Also, I was thinking of Advent coming up and some projects..... Maybe ones some of us can do together. So let's see how things develop.
Sorry about auto correct and not checking. That shouldn't be " formulas" above, but forums.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the "maybe hippo" I too thought it might be a dog, so you can call it what you will.
DeleteLike Katie, I blogged for several years and there were times I felt I was talking to myself because of the lack of comments. You shouldn't feel discouraged if there are no comments on the posts; there are always lurkers who are too busy or too shy to comment. You can prove that by looking at the hit numbers. So now you know Katrina looks every day though she never comments. No doubt there are others. Carry on!
ReplyDelete