Pinkie’s Realm

I found the two interviews I’ve read in Kline & Burstein’s Blog! much more engaging and interesting than I thought they would be. The two I’ve read is “A weblog saved my life last night” (interview with Ayelet Waldman) and “Punching holes in Faded Mirrors” (interview with Arianna Huffington). I found them so vastly different that I wanted to respond briefly to both of them.

In Ayelet Waldman’s interview she discusses how she used to be a daily blogger with a wide audience, and then describes why she has come to shun it. As a published author, blogging was a great outlet for her creative thoughts. In the interview she then talks about how her new medicine for her Bi-polar disorder reacted dangerously, causing her to have suicidal thoughts. As the interview’s title claims, her blog saved her life because she left a post expressing her desperation and thoughts of killing herself. After that her husband rushed home and her friends aross the globe reached out to her. I just find it contradictory that she claims the blogging saved her life, then goes on to say that she believes it wasn’t good for her life, career, or herself as  person. Though I agree that blogging can create further issues, I can’t accept her conclusion for the reasons that she states. I know bloggers in particular can be “snarky”, as she puts it, and fiercely honest to the point of extreme personal offense, so for that reason I’m going to try to be very honest without being disrespectful or rude.

Waldman mentions 2 psychological disorders she has, and demonstrates this statement further by mentioned the multiple medications she takes in her blog (as well as many other extremely personal life details). I’ve grown up my whole life with about 7-8 doctors for the many phsycial conditions and psychological disorders I have had. I’ve never, ever, felt the urge to tell everyone about it, or anyone for that matter. I tell those that I feel need to know based on the situation. I complain of course, like every other human…but I wouldn’t say I’m whiney. To be honest, I just found her immature and whiney. She’s a grown woman and she spends hours a day writing about her children, sex life, and screwed up emotions…that just really says high school to me. She mentions how she loved blogging because she found people like her who support each other and talk about their feelings of lonliness and depression as mothers. No wonder she was depressed…instead of forcing herself to be positive and look for things on the internet that are stimulating and exciting, or funny, or happy, she was looking for more places to feel sorry for herself. So then she goes on to shun blogging, as if it’s the blogosphere’s fault. I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t share personal matters with the world. I simply can’t understand her reasoning behind why she has written and done the things she’s done.

Arianna Huffington, on the other hand, has a whole different attitude towards the internet and blogging. I respect her already because she is extremely worldy and wise. She’s accomplished so many things to be proud of and traveled the world, and has created wonderful things that maybe Waldman should consider reading and engaging in. Arianna thinks the world of blogging is full of oppertunity and truth. She has created a blog where multiple people of ages from 11-80 and from every time zone write collectively to form a “blogazine”. I find that fascinating, and I found her interview intriguing. Maybe now I’ll take my own advise and go search for some blogs which are stimulating, fun, and happy, and spend a short while appreciating the things that Arianna’s “Huffington Post” has to offer.

*Bold text: text based on template suggestions from Graff & Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say.