01.28up yours, hackers
One of my twitter friends mentioned a few days ago that Rob Kroese’s “humor blogs” site was down and then wrote a blog post about it. I visited myself and saw this (go ahead and check the link). My heart sank.
I thought about how when I first started my blog and had a “.wordpress” in the middle of my URL and wondered if anyone would want to read my stories from childhood and child-rearing after enjoying this activity called “blogging” with surprising success during my deployment to Iraq a few months earlier (thanks, New York Times!). I wrote every day and hoped the readers at the “humor blogs” site I’d found on accident (which had >1000 blogs on it) would vote favorably on the level of humor in each post, and after a couple months, I was on the first page! Top 30! A few weeks later, I was top 10, and then top 5 for several months. I think I actually called Pretty Bride from work on the day I cracked the top 5. I was such a dork back when I was 33.
Participating waned a bit when my work situation changed, but I still enjoyed the blogs there, especially last July when they became tangible after I met Margaret, Kathy, JD, Anna, and Meg in person. I could tell they thought I was as funny-looking as I was funny-reading. We bonded. Humor Blogs suddenly became a smaller place.
So, now that my posts aren’t automatically sent to H-B for voting on whether they’re funny or not, should I start being more serious? Turn this into a “personal blog” or “daddy blog?” Or try to stick with “humor blogging?” Or give it up and concentrate on other activities (i.e., something that pays well)?
I’m not sure. Probably a hybrid. I enjoy being part of the blogosphere. Hell, I’m meeting several twitter friends this Saturday night for the first time for a night of debauchery (unbeknownst to them). I’ll probably take them to the bar where I did this:
I have no recollection of how I met the guy on the mic with me. I don’t think I want to know.
I’m planning to go to NYC in August for BlogHer 2010. I’m entertaining Adam when he comes up for a wedding in May. I’m debating South By Southwest with Johnny Truant.
Okay, internet. I can’t quit you. I’m just not sure what will follow the “form of ….” command after I tap fists with my Wonder Twin. Whoever the hell that is.
You have some mad skills on the mic. If the lawyer thing doesn’t work and then the blogging thing doesn’t work, singing is in your top 5 career options.
Stick with the humor, you’re quite good at it.
Be kind to your fellow partiers on Saturday, they’ll have to have some mad skills to hang with you.
Karen Chatters´s last blog ..Confusion
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
@karen chatters, Ha! Right. Singing is part of the humor, you see. Thanks!
[Reply]
January 28th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Keep going with it.
I think blog directories worked for us a few years ago but not so much now. There are too many other things that compete for people’s eyeballs on the internet.
HB should be recognized though as a pioneer of the humor blogsphere. It gave a lot of us a good jump start and for that I am thankful.
On a side note feel free to plug your posts on my blog’s fan page. Part of the reason I created it was for other humor bloggers to promote themselves.
Chris C´s last blog ..Angry Seafood Humor News 4
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
@Chris, Thanks…I’ll check it out. I’m not as IT-savvy as you are, though.
[Reply]
January 28th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Keep it going in whatever direction works for you. Some of us will stick with you for the ride wherever it may lead.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:34 am
@Keyona, Thanks…I’m like the Pied Piper w/o the rats.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 2:50 am
For the record, you’re filed under “Fathers” in my feed reader, not “Humour”. But that’s just one daddyblogger’s opinion.
SciFi Dad´s last blog ..The Experiments
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
@SciFi Dad, And, it’s settled. Thanks!
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 7:53 am
You’ll always be squarely in the “humor blogs” category for me.
Miss Britt´s last blog ..And a burden was lifted…
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:34 am
@Miss Britt, And you’ve unsettled what SciFi Dad settled. Thanks.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Muskrat, you are my hero. Really. Not just for this post, but for every post you do. Awwww (tear). But really, you are awesome.
I wish I had been able to be there when you met up with Margaret, Kathy, JD, Anna, and Meg, but then I probably would have stolen the spotlight from you as the other “male” there, especially when I busted a move of my own.
Someday hopefully we’ll get to meet and not to steal from Chris, but feel free to plug your blog on my fan page as well. Actually, this post, I’m already putting up a link to it there myself, because this was a true tribute to the spirit of what Humor-Blogs was supposed to be…not what it always was, but what it was meant to be.
unfinishedrambler´s last blog ..Elvis is the janitor in the basement of our library
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:35 am
@UR, Can I be the wind beneath your wings, too? ‘Cause that’d be cool.
Thanks, buddy!
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 8:36 am
I’ve commented on several people’s blogs about how blogging is changing due to competition from things like FB and Twitter. What used to be fodder for a blog post now gets eaten up in smaller FB updates, so I’m blogging WAY less than I used to. But that’s ok. Things change, evolve and we move on. We’re still here but we’re just wearing different clothes. Be whoever you want to be WHEREVER you want to be… just don’t go away!
Jeff´s last blog ..And if we’re lucky, Debby Harry and Robin Leach may show up!
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:35 am
@Jeff, Yeah, it’s just easier–the proverbial path of least resistance. Thanks for the followership, though!
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 9:12 am
HB had its time and was a great start for a lot of us. Word of mouth works too (thanks unfinishedrambler!).
I would hope that Twitter and its constraints would not replace the more thought-out articles, but I guess time will tell…
Pearl
Pearl´s last blog ..What’s Up with My Neighborhood or Hey! I Know a Guy Who Can Get Ya A Deal…
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 10:36 am
@Pearl, I think time has already told. But hey, let’s try to do some of both, ok?
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 10:09 am
I never really put this blog in any category. I enjoy it, sometimes funny, sometimes fatherly, your like Alan Thicke.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:28 am
@william, Thanks…I think.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Dude, I call “White Wedding” on Saturday. I’m going to rock that shit.
MayoPie´s last blog ..Home Alone: The Story Of Me.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:29 am
@mayopie, I hope so…considering my 3yo woke me at 3am last night, and I stayed up for 3 hours, I’m not sure if there will be any late night singing, though.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 10:45 am
That is so sad. Asses
Windsor´s last blog ..Really? Who would’ve thought this would ever happen?
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:29 am
@windsor, asses indeed.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Thanks, guys. Truth be told, I was planning on pulling the plug at the end of this year anyway. It was just too much work and $, especially considering that I’m not blogging much these day. As Jeff said, blogging ain’t what it used to be, and neither are blog directories.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:30 am
@diesel, Pulling the plug anyway? Next you’re going to tell me there’s a man behind that curtain.
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I’ve slowly been realizing that a mix of humor and personal blogging is probably the best combination. I see you like I see myself – funny stories, embarrassing histories, and occasionally glimpses of humanity.
Avitable´s last blog ..My Interviews with Zelda Rubinstein and J. D. Salinger
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:31 am
@avitable, You see me like you see yourself? Wow. Given your level of arrogance, that’s a HUGE compliment!
[Reply]
January 29th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Do what you want, i will follow. What avitable said. And william five comments up.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:31 am
@avatgardener, Thanks!
[Reply]
January 30th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Labels schmabels. Email me when you get your freak on in May with Adam. Cus I know you will.
Carolyn Online´s last blog ..A whiskey Baptismal.
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 11:32 am
@carolyn online, I hope so. Though I may be in the hospital, since he’s coming right around the new baby’s due date!
[Reply]
January 30th, 2010 at 9:07 am
You’re not going anywhere. I simply won’t allow it.
And I hope to see you at BlogHer 2010. Maybe we can rock the mike together?
JD at I Do Things´s last blog ..I Blew the Nostril in Jamaica so you don’t have to
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 9:12 pm
@JD, I’m glad you won’t allow it. And, I hope so!
[Reply]
January 30th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I catch you where I can find you, which is often on Twitter and Facebook. You can’t run very far. Hmmm, I might just have to register for BlogHer if you’re going to be there this year. It’d be awesome to hook up with you again. Meeting you was one of the highlights of last year’s conference. Awwww.
Kathy´s last blog ..I’m All For Eco-Friendly, But Geez….
[Reply]
muskrat Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 9:13 pm
@kathy, Awwww, indeed. I’d like to go and probably will. Glad I’m keep-up-able!
[Reply]
January 30th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by themuskrat, themuskrat. themuskrat said: my homage to the late "humor blogs" and a video i don't remember making: http://bit.ly/daXmU0 [...]
January 30th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
No offense and with all due respect…
Actually, have you ever noticed that when someone says ‘no offense’ and ‘with all due respect’ they actually mean to be offensive and that you are due no respect.
Wait, what the hell am I even talking about?
A Free Man´s last blog ..Music and passion were always the fashion
[Reply]
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 pm