Interviewed
When did you start blogging?
I started idleThinK in January 2003, but I've been inundating the web with useless verbiage since about 1999. I wouldn't want to put you through reading my earliest entries.
How did you find out about it?
Depends what you consider blogging. The concept of posting a little piece of writing every now and then isn't anything new, but I only moved to automated content management systems when I got annoyed with having to manually archive.
What made you interested in it?
The need to write is kind of pathological.
What *keeps* you interested in it?
I write about anything that interests me, and the mere thought that the world may one day cease to interest me is terrifying enough to make me keep my eyes open. And as long as I derive stimuli from the world around me, I suppose I'll keep writing about it.
Do you have a purpose in blogging? If yes, what is it?
I release feelings through writing, more so than, say, climbing trees (although that works too). Writing allows you to rope in thoughts onto paper/screen. In your head, they're just thoughts, and you're just experiencing them. On paper, they become something entirely new, something you can stand back from, look at them from a more objective perspective. And then you say things like, "Oh dear lord, did I really write that?"
How often do you blog? (if more than once a day, how many times a day on average)
I usually find something to pen every day. Sometimes more, if my readers are lucky, ha ha.
How long do you spend on writing a post, on average?
I've been known to post anything from two words to monster posts verging on doctoral theses. So it varies.
What kinds of things do you usually blog about?
Anything that crosses the mind. I tend to pen thoughts rather than actions. See, "blogging" is, at its base function, the capturing of temporality. Of time, and the documentation of age. I try very hard to stay away from this "dear diary today I did this and this and this" complex, mostly because I think age is measured by maturity of thought rather than what you had for breakfast this morning.
Why do you blog about them?
Because I'd rather remember what I thought than what I had for breakfast that morning.
But I will write about interesting things I did, if they're interesting enough. And there are a lot of writers (fine, bloggers) who write their daily lives in ways that make them fascinating.
Do you often hear about something or read something and feel, "I HAVE to blog this!"?
Yes, I'm sad like that. Also, let the record reflect that I despise the word "blog".
How often does that happen?
Often enough to qualify me as "sad".
What kind of things give you that kind of feeling?
Anything is writing fodder. Words can make the ordinary extraordinary.
How do you feel after blogging? (happy, satisfied, etc.)
Nourished. Or quenched.
Do you feel that blogging has become sort of an "addiction" for you? Why or why not?
I suppose for me, writing is both the addiction and the therapy.
If you feel that it has become sort of an "addiction", have youtried to stop being addicted? How did you do that? And did it work?
There's this special patch you can buy at your local pharmacy...
..no, it didn't really work. I'm an addict. Some days when there's too much personal going on in my life, I find it (ironically) harder to write, because my website has become so public that my life is under constant scrutiny, and I can't be as open as I'd like to, or as I used to, at the risk of infringing on the privacy of other involved parties. But I have a scruffy little notebook for the more personal thoughts.
If you are away from your Internet connection for a few days, for example going away on holiday, do you still try to blog? Why?
Yes. Especially if I'm on holiday. While travelling, writing is like taking holiday photographs, only with words instead of a camera. I'll usually scribble things down on paper and type them out in one monster post when I get access to a computer.
If you cannot connect to the Internet and cannot blog, how do you feel?
Malnourished. Sometimes violent. :)
Have you ever tried to take a break from blogging?
Sometimes life gets in the way and I don't write for a while anyway. I've never specifically taken a hiatus, if that's what you mean.
Are you concerned about getting more readers? If yes, what are your strategies for doing so?
No.
The other blogs you read — how many of them are by people you know in "real life"?
Not many, actually.
Do you find that interacting with friends through reading their blogs & commenting on each other's blogs takes the place of face-to-face communication? If yes, how do you feel about that?
Not at all.
Do you interact with other bloggers whom you don't know in "real life"? (commenting on their blogs, replying to their comments on your blog, emailing them, etc.) If yes, how many?
I read lots of "blogs" (ugh) which I find online, so I don't physically know a lot of people whose lives I'm nonetheless vaguely familiar with. It's a whole new community out there. I keep daily track of at least 12 websites, and I don't think I know anymore than 3 or 4 of those "in real life".
Would you consider them as friends or part of your social circle?
Some, yes.
How did you discover their blogs in the first place?
Surfing like a crazed Billabong dog.
Do you have a criteria for those blogs you read which are not by people you already know in "real life"? If yes, what is it?
They have to interest me. And/or have an enviable writing style, and/or something unique that makes me want to come back to see what else they're up to. "Blogging" is ultimately an extremely voyueristic activity, and I'm a very demanding voyeur. I find interest in interesting minds.
When someone says something negative about your blog, how do you feel? How do you react?
It used to bother me, but then I grew up.
Do you tend to blog and neglect other things you think you should be doing instead? If yes, why? How often?
Last December I blogged for 24 hours non-stop, for an AIDS charity. By non-stop I mean posting every 15 minutes, so it was pretty much non-stop thinking and typing. So I think that qualifies as neglecting other things I think I should be doing, like, say, sleeping, or eating.
Tell me the story behind the name of your blog and your nickname (the name under which you blog).
It's nothing epic. I wanted idlethoughts.com, but discovered that was already taken (by a boy in Singapore who I eventually became acquainted with after I complained on his comments board that he pillaged my domain name). So, Orwellian "doublethink" style, I settled for an amalgamation, and came up with idleThinK. It's sort of grown on me.
And there's no real reason why my online persona spells her name "rAchel".
Do you have more than one blog? (including private blogs, etc.) If so, how many?
I can't disclose that, sorry :) But I am a guest writer on a few.
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The article is coming out sometime this week, supposedly. I wonder what they'll make of it. And I'm curious to see who else was interviewed.