In Person

we got massive pieces of cake and talked about ourselves and blogging and why we blog and what we do or don't put in 'em. leila got me thinking about the evolution of blogging. about how one starts with some vague need/desire and what comes from that can have a life of its own. leila tells me she was just writing on her new website for a while before she realized that was called "blogging" and other people did it. that was three years ago.

now she writes primarily to write. to learn and practice. and she writes well, as evidenced by my regular reading of her work.

after, i called madhavi in melbourne (four more days until she's home!) and we ended up talking about honesty in blogs ~ who you share with and to what degree. i told her that i had told leila, whom i'd really just met, remember, some fairly intimate details about our relationship. that felt safe to me as the only people we knew in common were david and bill, and i'd already more or less told them the same things. in thinking about it though, i'd told them those things in more hidden ways. i'd talked around the statements, where with leila, i'd just admitted how it was straight out.

in this blog, i use the lowest common denominator. exposing myself only to the degree i would with casual friends. only saying things i'd say outloud at a party, not caring who overheard.

and then later i got email from sarah, who talked about how there were hidden layers of secrets in her blog that an observant man might discern. and wondering if i'd unwrapped them.

so maybe some people blog to tell secrets without telling them. to leave breadcrumb trails to their hearts.

leila shared a quote from a friend of hers, that i'll probably butcher because i left my notes at home:

"people blog to reveal their individual truth."

that feels right to me.