Friday, March 14, 2008

A Non-Post


So, if you’re a regular blogger (or a semi-regular one) and you feel it’s time to post something that is read-worthy (is that a real word?) but you can’t come up with any ideas and the more you try to think of something the blanker your brain gets so you start feeling a bit of pressure because you know there are important issues and events in the world to write about but you just can’t seem to focus on one and you’re a tad weary of writing about yourself and so then you start wondering why the hell you would let blogging (or not blogging in this case) make you feel even the tiniest bit guilty and it all starts to build up - what are you going to do and WHAT ARE YOU LEFT WITH?

A run on sentence.

Or, you could simply not post for another day.



(This one’s for you, Trish and Sherry!)

18 comments:

Sherry said...

I love it!!! This is THE best run-on sentence I have read in a LONG time!!! I love your brilliance in being able to write about nothing with such knowledge and conviction!!! LOL!!! Glad there was no freezing rain, especially for that drive to Waterloo!!

Anonymous said...

*pant pant*

I'm all out of breath for some reason. But I am so with you on this!

Angela said...

I do tend to just roll with it. I know I've gone weeks and weeks without blogging because I didn't feel up to it. When I let the guilt affect me, I hated it, so I embraced the guilt and stopped feeling guilty. People who get me don't mind if I take a break -- they understand. If anyone's a greedy bugger, I probably don't want to be pleasing them, anyway, yes?

Charlotta-love said...

I know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, a run on sentance is a mild compared to what I finally decided to blog out today: redneck tank tops.

contemporary themes said...

I totally laughed out loud. Please file under humorous!

I love a good run-on sentence!

Anonymous said...

Beth,
This is too funny!! I agree with sherry, it is the best run-on sentence I have read in a very, very long time. You did write it with such confidence, you deserve an A. Love this post. It is Perfect.
XOXOX

oreneta said...

Whew, it is odd how some days you sit down and there is just nothing there, other days I have too much too say and end up with a jumble of a post.

Sometimes if I just sit still and relax for a bit thinking about the day I come up with something, it just sort of emerges, it's often not bad either. Odd how the brain works that way.

Mrs. G. said...

I frequently wonder why I fear the BLOGGER police-a group of thugs who show up at my door when I can't think of a damn thing worth saying. We're a weird bunch.

Gary said...

Hey get back to work! I didn't come over here for ruminating :)

Beth said...

cheri:
Great run-on sentence - and with caps, too! Breaking the rules is definitely a refreshing thing to do.

sherry:
"...write about nothing with such knowledge...."
I don't know whether to be pleased or insulted!
(And so you did the Mom thing...)

trish:
Thought you might appreciate this one!

angela:
You can't please all of the people all of the time - and guilt is such a waste of time.

charlotta-love:
I was actually quite intrigued with your subject matter.

la la:
Thanks! Fun to do and they add a little something - aside from a lesson in poor grammar.

eileen:
An "A" and a "Perfect." This non-post was not in vain!

oreneta:
I cannot imagine you having a day with "nothing there" - unless it is due to you being utterly exhausted.

mrs. g.:
It's all self-induced pressure - we have to relax. Blogging is supposed to be fun.
(And everything you write is worth reading.)

Beth said...

gary:
I'm actually very busy writing a treatise - "The Run-on Sentence in Great Literature" - to be posted in installments.
(Stay tuned.)

Sherry said...

Oh I can't wait -- this gets to be a "series" - woo hoo!!! I'm still laughing at Mrs. g's comment -- that is so true and so funny and we are all NUTS!!!

Oh and my comment about the "writing about nothing" -- a total compliment....a la Seinfeld!!! :)

Angel said...

I think that was very blog-worthy....

Minnesota Matron said...

I had one of those days on Friday. Just couldn't pull one stitch of wit out of the Matronly brain. It's good to give in and write that run-on.

bjkeefe said...

One of my bibles is The Elements of Style, and I never forget the part where E.B. White talks about there being no need to follow the rules slavishly. The key, he says, is to know the rules well enough so that when you break one, you do so elegantly.

I think you nailed it here.

I am unsure which makes me feel more self-conscious about blogging: the dry spells or the diarrheic bursts. One thing that I try to keep in mind about the former is that I tried and failed to keep about nine hundred journals, back in the days before the Web. The thing that always made me give up was guilt over not adding an entry every day, which compounded as the non-writing days accumulated. When I decided to start a blog, I made the first rule to be: There shall be no rule about having to post every day.

So, as much as your readers have to deal with feeling unfulfilled on days when the muse doesn't visit you, it's okay. We'll take quality over quantity.

Beth said...

brendan:
The Strunk and White "bible" holds a place of honour on the shelf just above my computer.
And I am flattered by your kind words, sir!

Cipriano said...

Wow!
You are speaking to my inner Negligent-Blogger!
This past weekend I was in Montreal doing Crack and LSD and had no time [felt guiltier than three ostriches with their heads up their own holes] for blogging [redeemed myself tonight though] and so I know what you mean Beth.
Sometimes, one has to post a "non-post" in lieu of dressing up in Grandma's nightie and launching oneself off the penthouse balcony.

Beth said...

cip:
You, my friend, always provide something for your readers with your Splash du Jour.
As for certain portions of your comment, I'm thinking the Crack and LSD have not quite left your system. (Ostriches? Grandma's nightie?)