What's in a name?

Me. Staring at stuff and making a note.

Look! Up at the top of the page! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s a new blog name! As those last few sentences probably suggested I haven’t been feeling super-creative lately so I just went with this blog’s url.

 

Why a blog name change?

 

I started this blog with the vague idea that blogging would help me enjoy my participation in e-life a bit more as well as add a degree of accountability to both my writing and said e-life. I wasn’t sure that’s how it would play out but why not give it a shot, right?

 

So I typed “Maybe I Should Blog” into Blogger and was amazed and amused that maybeishouldblog.blogspot.com was actually an available blog name. So on an impulse I made that the title of what I thought of at the time as my ‘test blog.’ Maybe it would stick but maybe blogging would be like those running shoes everyone buys on January 1 that are languishing in the back of the closet by mid-February.

 

Now, though, I’m coming up on my first blog-o-versary. “Maybe I Should Blog” isn’t so much the question anymore. Clearly I *am* blogging, whether I should or not, so it’s time to upgrade to fancier running shoes.

 

Why “Larks?”

 

In my e-life and sometimes in my real life I go by Larks. Not that I’m under any illusion that you couldn’t find out my full name and identifying details with three clicks of a mouse. (Please don't, though. That's weird.) I don’t hide my blog from my real life friends, family, or colleagues either though often I don’t mention it unless specifically asked.

 

But I still find semi-anonymous blogging comforting because it draws some lines that allow to me write honestly but with boundaries. Some subjects that are on the table in my real life are off the table in my e-life. Could you find my child’s school or my medical records and bring them up in e-conversation if you were super creepy? Sure. But then that’s on you and your super-creepiness. It’s not like you can just naturally slide those things into the discussion without being an invasive e-jerk because the door hasn’t been opened.

 

Conversely, there are things I bring up at the drop of a hat in my e-life that I don’t talk about much in my real life. I don’t just wander up to acquaintances and go, “You guys: let’s talk abortion!” or “Here’s a list about parenting! You’re welcome!” I’ll talk about those things if someone else brings them up but I’m not one to ignore atmosphere and segues. In blogging, though, there are fewer barriers so I can read or write about whatever interests me and other people can too. That’s the beauty of e-life.

 

Why “Notes This?”

 

Yesterday I spent 90 minutes on the phone to various bouncy arenas as part of planning my daughter’s fifth birthday party. That’s a part of the life I’ve chosen and it’s not a bad thing. But it’s not exactly intellectually stimulating either. I worry that the parts of me that make me who I am could get absorbed into this “Leave it to Beaver” meets “Portlandia” netherworld where my own sense of identity and more global engagement atrophy.

 

In this space I can sink my teeth into actual conversations about myself and broader social issues. I don’t have grand ambitions of literary or e-greatness. I just want to engage with the world. So that’s what I do: I note things. Like Cliff’s Notes but of my life.

 

So now what?

 

In the next couple months I’ll be making some other changes to this blog. New format, maybe. A platform shift, hopefully. More sharing on Facebook and Twitter of blog posts, articles, and graphics that make me think, definitely. I might even experiment with something crazy like a regular posting schedule. Though don’t hold your breath on that last one.

 

At its core, though, I think this blog will always just be me, Larks, noting stuff.

 

I hope you’ll stick with me because I really appreciate that you’re here reading this. This whole experience would be way less fun if it were just “words without friends.” Leave a comment with a link to your blog too. I’d love to check it out.

 

Stay tuned for change and let me know what you think!