Here is a tip that will come in handy for just HUGE chunks of the Gen Pop…..if you love to blog, don’t become a Blogmaster, it sucks!
Art by Robyn
Now upon reading that, ones first thought may be that this is a pathetic selfish whine……..and one would be correct!
(for newer folks and those with damaged short term memories, Dispatches from the Abyss is the banner that warns people that this piece is personal meta and has no socially redeeming value, when you see it….flee!
Because even with the drawbacks that I shall be bitching about, overall, the transition from being an ‘ordinary’ blogger to a reluctant member of middle management in the Blogging Establishment has been absolutely wonderful.
But I no longer feel like a Pirate. Or a desperate beret wearing revolutionary hiding in the bushes waiting for the moment to tip the Empire over the edge by throwing a monkey wrench at the right place at the right time. It’s not that I feel constrained by any outward forces, or that I can’t write whatever the hell I want, it is just that I have responsibilities now. And I hate responsibility!
Whine whine whine a young crisp white whine whine whine a nice fluffy goat cheese whine whine whine with fresh baguette and whine whine whine some nice greek olives whine whine whine.
Really….NO ONE could have anticipated that the levees, people would fly airplanes, we would not be greeted as liberators the changes …and rewards that me and OTB starting this place up would bring. Sure we had hopes, but we were also smart enough to know that WE wouldn’t really be the ones who determined how this would turn out. For one thing there were all the Contributing Editors that were and are essential for providing the fantastic content…but most importantly for ANY blog….we knew that the community would be key. You can have all the great content you want, but without a vibrant community, there is no life in the blog, no dynamism, no excitement. Well, I think it is safe to say that this place is VibranT!
But for me personally it has been a really odd transition. Over at Dkos, last year I was among the top volume commenters, but since we started this place up I have found that I do not feel as free to chirp up and throw out on the page whatever the hell I feel like. For one thing, since we started out in a bit of a war with another blog and facing fierce criticism of what we were….when we didn’t even KNOW what we were, I felt like anything I said was taken as representing the whole blog, instead of just representing…me. Then I realized that this had made me into waaaay more of ‘the boss’ than I had anticipated being. ugh. That meant that my words carried way more weight than they deserved.
I don’t mind being a leader…in my last life in construction I was a leader. A leader of a bunch of raucous, immature, boisterous, opinionated individuals who were all working together to build something. Just like here! But my ‘style’ had always been to shut up as much as possible and let people express themselves. I have always found that you get the most out of people when they have the freedom to express themselves, and that is what I want this place to be. So dig in and dig deep and let it out! You are making a difference and you are being heard, think about what you really want, and what you really want this place to be ….and then make it that! You have my permission and my blessings…for whatever the hell that egotistical pronouncement is worth!
Ideally, this place is what YOU make it. What the community makes it. We have no set path, no specific mission, (other than the aforementioned toppling of the Empire) this is an experiment, a laboratory to see what happens when we all get together and can express all aspects of ourselves as freely as possible. Now I have a BIG ego, and I started this place (with a ton of help and most of my ideas being shot down and replaced by other, better ones) but I want to take this space to emphasize that this is NOT my blog…it is our blog. I want to encourage all of you to step up and make it what YOU want it to be.
And I want you to do this for two simple reasons….first, that is how this place will continue to be great, and get greater.
Second, that means less work for me!
So keep it up folks, we are doing great and ALL of that credit goes to you guys, the members of this community that have made this place what it is. Blogging is gaining momentum and importance and that will only continue to build until the election. We have a rare opportunity to influence society right now. It is like a food chain. Individual bloggers contribute to small (and large) blogs, the larger bogs read the smaller blogs and feel their influence, the MSM reads the larger blogs and feeds that influence out to the greater public. The effect is still a little subtle, but it is DEFINITELY there….and it is working! And not just on the political front, the effect of blogging communities and all the socializing and silliness that goes on is also felt in the passion and the unity (however shaky it may be at times) of our message. It takes a global village to change the world, and we are building that global village with every godammed pootie picture we post!
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pretty much anything so I guess that whole “express yourself” is not a secret message to me!!!
A simple solution for people taking your words out of context is just post “personal” on anything you feel you are saying from you own perspective and “meta” for anything related to the site.
I’ll help out more on the admin stuff in a week or two. I know you have been doing a lot of the work behind the scenes lately and I think we all appreciate it.
giggling… white whine and goat cheese.
Blame it on everybody else! Jeeze!
Heh!
I got news for you. We all saw you do it! 😉
It needs a “rec” button.
carries any weight at all with me, I am just here for the pony pictures.
That is an example of my twisted distorted warped banana peel Monty Python with teeth sense of humour. We Brits always have to keep a stiff upper lip and can’t tell anyone how much we care. We have a saying ‘a woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more you beat them, the better they be’. It’s sort of how Black English has developed, you know saying ‘murder’ for ‘fantastic’.
I just want to say that the only thing in the internet I shall miss on my adventure to Argentina is this blog. I plan on taking a total detoxification from the cyber poison that has infiltrated my blood stream in the past few months. See you in March.
So whine, whine, whine away.
I like to whine a shit load and I like to delude myself that it is all existential and deep and post modern deconstructuralist but really it isn’t…
pooch pics get equal time with pooties here.
dogs rule (and drool)… sorry cat lovers. but it’s true.
yes… a great gathering flame war of puppy dogs, kittens, poetry, music videos, and the occasional sexual innuendo.
what’s not to love?
as much fun as being the ones who just get to run free unherded. I think your version of boss is the only kind of boss that most here would tolerate. The style of management you have works best for a creative batch of slightly anarchistic humanistic rebels. I especially appreciate it here right now.
After the dust has settled and we get our new ‘Big Boss’ in the WH the blogs are going to become even more important. This election has shown me if nothing else what a grip the bogus media has on our perceptions of the story line. This place is shaping up just as it was billed. A blog that goes beyond being a reactionary partisan response to the current set of thugs we have, and moves towards a future that will tackle the misplaced concepts were spoon fed by both sides. It is a oasis of sanity LOL. Free speech is alive and well here.
my apologies for those who already watched in y’day’s a.m. pony…
just so you dont feel so alone in your frustrating bosshood….
I was afraid of that. I hand it to you for sticking with it though…I would’ve bailed long ago.
I am enriched by the efforts of those who visioned this….
I am enriched by those who give of themselves that I can be here and that this will be a more vibrant place for all…
I am enriched by those who self author this community….
I am enriched by the emerging global village…..
I am certian it is the source of our hope……
it is the only thing with the potential for an integrated self engagement that is as complex as the world it is creating….
i.e. enough depth to be adaptive….
adaptive in the face of self organizing critcality type change…….
and I believe that is a crucial part of any actual future we have……
most of my considerably long life roaming the tubes i’ve done my best to stay ‘under the wire,’ because i just plain have a low tolerance for bullshit… couple that with an Irish temper and it makes for not a lot of fun for anyone. also, i’ve found myself limited at places, where one part of me was welcome, but oh dear god, don’t be that honest or blunt. finally went ‘dark’ and didn’t post anywhere in the political blogosphere for just over a year. somehow, don’t even remember how, i ran across Docudharma and within about 10 minutes, i knew it was time to log in. because of everything you wrote above and everyone else has written.
there is freedom here, to explore, discuss, decide things, play. i’ve thought more about going back to political writing in the last three months than i have in two years. and that’s all because of Docudharma.
really grateful. yes, i’m being serious and ‘earnest’ as pf8 would say. 😉 underneath this ditz exterior is a soft old soul who loves nothing better than to be amazed… by people. that happens here every blasted fucking day. @;-)
your comments and essays are spectact! and I hope you feel free from the chains of Responsiblity (we call it The Big R here!) to dive in to this place you created more often.
We’re wired for sound, you know? Hoping we’ll all need new shades for the future. 2;-)
i appreciate what you’re doing, and the audience/community you’ve attracted.
maybe it’s just such a pleasant change to have a site besides my own where my commentary actually gets read, discussed and recommended at times.
but it’s more than that. it’s the content, the tone, and the recognition that life goes on outside of the electoral process.
thanks for all you do to make it/allow it to happen.
Could not be better said.
Thank you buhdy & OTB for starting this wonderful, phantasmogorical, informative and important place!
I’ll point out we haven’t had a single hidden comment since December 24th.
Chill.
wanna walk in your shoes…..
But I love DD and I’m so glad you and OTB created it.
Thank you from the heart of my bottom. um, wait, reverse that!
That’s praise that others should bestow.