May 24, 2007

I read the comics section of the newspaper on a daily basis, and even though there are only a few I actually enjoy (Frazz [I am forgiving of its overbearing preachiness and heavy-handed swipes at all of us fat, lazy, non-bike-riding Americans], Betty, Lio, Monty, and Get Fuzzy, for the most part; although I should confess I’ve also been following For Better or for Worse for what seems like my entire life, even though it has long lost its appeal) I read every single one, including the vomitous Luann, and, of course, Family Circus, which is—say it with me—always down there in the corner, just waiting to suck.

Anyway, that’s my explanation for why I was reading today’s Cathy (because really: Cathy?), but I have to say, out of all of Cathy’s years of Aaaacks and dressing room woes and cookie-box confrontations, this strip is the first that made me think to myself, Ha! It’s funny because it’s true!

(Somewhat topical and legitimately humorous content in a Cathy cartoon, my god. Batten down the hatches, for surely the remaining six signs of the apocalypse are on their way.)

Oh, the blog overshare, where those of us who would never dream of discussing the size and shape of our breasts in a public setting feel entirely comfortable doing so online, stopping ourselves only at the last minute from including a bouncing, jiggling animated GIF for illustrative purposes.

What can I say, the benefits outweigh the lack of dignity. How else would I be able to connect with my fellow Chesty Van Boobertons, and be immediately endowed (har!) with fantastic sports-bra advice? I ask you.

Actually, I was thinking about the impact blogging has had on my life, and I can’t even begin to list all the positive outcomes. The friendships I’ve made, the conversations I’ve been a part of, the significance of being exposed to a diverse number of opinions and points of views . . . because of blogging, I live in a larger world than I would otherwise.

There’s also value in navel-gazing, to a degree. I’m not sure how useful it is to get lost in some endless loop of superficial self-analysis and documentation (I’m looking at you, Twitter) but I do know it’s been surprisingly helpful to write about the cruftier sections of my brain, because when you put things in words you are forced to deal with them. You have to process them, if you’ll forgive the term, and I don’t think I’m being too dramatic when I say that dealing with things on a regular basis rather than constantly Swiffering them under your mental throw rugs will change your life for the better, in a million and one ways.

Also, if this blog hadn’t led to someone suggesting Turbo Jam, I never would have bought the DVD, the workout never would have been integral to me committing to a fitness routine, and I probably never would have dropped two dress sizes and developed actual tricep muscles for the first time in ten freaking years. Boo-fuckin-rah!

If it’s slightly ridiculous to be brimming with TMI behind the safety of my WordPress Create New Post window, well, SO MOTE IT BE. I accept the fact that I live in a 2007 Cathy World, where I not only reluctantly identify with the clichéd ill-fitting swimsuit freakouts, but the urge to rush home in order to document my cellulite in lurid detail on my BLOG.

:::

On a last meta-blogging note, I apologize if the widgets in the sidebar have been giving your browser the flimflams. They’re awesome in theory because I can display current entries from my other websites without manually adding links each time I update, but there seems to be something about that little chunk of Flash code that pisses off some web browsers. I have no idea why, so I have no idea how to fix it, but let me know if it’s doing anything awful like triggering crashes, kicking your dog, adding Showgirls to your Netflix queue, etc.

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jen
jen
16 years ago

The widgetbox works just fine with Mozilla, just so ya’ know. (Well, my Mozilla, at least. ;o))

Congrats on the two dress sizes! Dang!

warcrygirl
16 years ago

I must be doing it wrong, the only thing I’ve gotten out of blogging lately is new words to add to my vocabulary from UrbanDictionary. Well, that’s not entirely true, I’ve found a few new bands as well as made some awesome friends. If you and your boobs ever want to REALLY get adventurous you could always submit a picture to this years Boobiethon. It’s for a good cause.

Gena
16 years ago

I think I need Turbo Jam. I’ve never had tricep muscles.

I love the peek into your everyday life. It makes me think about mine. I also try to write about mine, but I’m terrified, still, of putting myself out there. I’m that way in real life, too.

That little side thingie works just fine on my browser, too.

Caitlin
Caitlin
16 years ago

Ooh, with this new bloggy awareness, can you start taking requests?

Such as: Go see 24 WEEKS LATER and immediately blog about it with all your awesome zombie knowledge because oh my god I kept my eyes covered for half the movie and holy shit they are so damn fast and why don’t I own a boat?

Pete
Pete
16 years ago

Good Post

Leah
16 years ago

I like the widgets, over there in the sidebar, just waiting to be awesome.

Anonymous
Anonymous
16 years ago

Turbo Jam, eh? Hmmm, might have to be checking that one out. Here comes a prolonged delve into ebay to save myself 3p (instead of just paying the extra goddamn 3p and buying it from a website… I always feel as if I’ve got a bargain my way!)

I agree about the joys of the anonymity that the internet provides – I can think of several occasions off the top of my head where I’ve written things in my blog that I would *never* say out loud. Somehow a computer screen between yourself and the world makes talking about things infinitely easier (for better or worse…)

P.s. Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 is all coolio with the thingamabobbies.

justmouse
16 years ago

“..because when you put things in words you are forced to deal with them. You have to process them..”

that is exactly why my blog has turned into a moldy piece of turd. because there is so much in my life that seems screwed up right now. i am finding it sooo much easier to Swiffer, than to process.

i need turbo jam. but more than that, i need the energy to actually DO the things on the video, not just watch it while sitting on the couch hoovering down an ENTIRE bag of oreos.

Dawn
16 years ago

Dude, oversharing is what the internet is FOR. I mean, seriously. Why else is it here? For, like, deep and insightful discussion about the pressing issues of the day? Pshaw.

kendra!
16 years ago

I take notes from you on the TMI factor, Sundry, because you’re extremely courageous and self-depricating and adorable, all simultaneously sometimes, and it’s so lovely to see that you have a venue in which to expose all of them. Blogging has made my world somewhat enlarged, however, sometimes I resent the fact that my mates don’t call me regularly because they think that all that you ever need to know about my goings on is on the internet.

Just to drive that point home, maybe I’m 5 weeks pregnant. Do my mates know? Maybe not, because maybe if I’m 5 weeks pregnant, maybe I didn’t post that on my blog, journey through parenthood notwithstanding.

Jen
Jen
16 years ago

For a similar inexplicable reason I happened to read the Cathy this past Sunday. Pretty good.

http://www.gocomics.com/cathy/2007/05/20/

Becky
Becky
16 years ago

Sundry…I love your blog overshare……it let’s me know that most of what I am thinking or feeling is AOK…or at least that there is another human being out there in the same boat!

That and you are so freaking courageous!

Carrie
16 years ago

Wait, triceps have muscles? I’m pretty sure that I was born without them.
I think that blogging is almost as good as therapy. I understand your point. But still, muscles?

Josh
16 years ago

Preach it sistah! Revealing things about yourself that you would probably not share in real life is just one of the great things about the internet. (along with porn and Chuck Norris jokes) Some people get it, some people think it’s weird. But for better or for worse the internet is redefining social relations and voyeurism/exhibitionism. I voyeuristically read your blog, and watch vlogs, and get not only entertainment, but also new insights into different types of people than I would normally never meet or converse with. I learn all sorts of cool stuff, all the time, every time I log on.

And in turn, I post videos I create up on YouTube. I make a fool of myself and expose my own flaws and insecurities. I find release in the creative outlet. I end up having conversations with people from all walks of life, living in every corner of the planet. And to be fair, the anonymity of the internet allows people to relate more openly about how they really feel without the threat of personal rejection or ridicule. Both the performers and the audience feel safe, and that leads to a social network with advantages you don’t get in real life. I have a hard time explaining to my friends and family why I get such a kick out of all this. But I think you said it best. It offers you a larger world than you would otherwise have.

KT
KT
16 years ago

I’ve been following your blog for a few years now, and I love the mix of funny stories, daily life anecdotes, philosophical (and sometimes controversial) discussion topics, product reviews, etc.! On top of it all, you’re a great (and hilarious!) writer! I really appreciate your candor, and it’s really given me insight into my own life, the relationships I have, and the decision about whether or not to have kids. It’s reassuring to know that sometimes life works out unexpectedly, and for the best. So anyway, far from TMI, I find this website’s honesty very enlightening. As a culture, we’re so private and isolated from other people sometimes, and it’s been a relief to know that I’m not alone in my opinions and experiences!

(I also think you have a rockin’ comments section. I don’t typically read comments on other websites, but you attract such a diverse group of intelligent, thoughtful people that it’s fun to see what other people have to say. It’s so refreshing to visit an open forum that DOESN’T devolve into flame wars!)

Tessa
Tessa
16 years ago

I lurve the sidebar dohickeys.

Also, I wanted you to know that you inspired me to dust off ye olde treadmill (it’s flipping hot outside, yo) and for the first time since high school, which was more than a decade ago, I ran. And then thought I was going to die, but ran 1/4 mile more the next day, and added a bit more today. Thanks, sister!

jonniker
16 years ago

Oh Linda. I love you.

Chesty VonBoobtertons! HEH.

Sunny
Sunny
16 years ago

Ditto Tessa on the workouts.

I love your posts. You’ve made me think, guffaw and stop using the treadmill for a clothes rack. Two pounds lighter and many more to go, but thanks! And as for boobs, I lumber around with 34Ds and feel a bit too much like a Nat’l Geographic photo when standing in front of the mirror. Yowza. Hmmm. Group discount for boob-jobs?

april
april
16 years ago

sigh. I want to be like you. I just can’t get my own blog going for some reason. I think I’m too freaked out about real world people finding it. But at the same time, I kind of want them to find it. Oh, the frustration of it all!

Erin
16 years ago

Amen about the blogging. At the risk of sounding overdramatic, I think blogging and reading other parent-type blogs saves my sanity on a daily basis. It’s also brought me in contact with a community of sorts, other parents just trying to do their best and not really having a clue. So THANKS! For the too-much-information, and boob talk, and honesty.

Also, I’m still doubting the whole Turbo Jam thing. I can’t bring myself to even TRY working out in front of the TV, even though I can certainly see the convenience of it at times. Maybe I can get a Turbo Jam dvd on Netflix?

Swistle
16 years ago

This whole post is funny because it’s true.

Brooke
16 years ago

I have a blog about our journey to parenthood. It’s really not that interesting, so the only hard evidence I have that anyone at all is reading it is the hit counter and one vent from a reader. One.

I keep a pretty pithy journal for me, but I don’t blog it because I vent A LOT just to get stuff out, and it’s nothing that would benefit my relationships. That said, my baby blog is currently secret because I say some not-very-nice things about my step kids (because, really, I don’t understand their behavior) and it would probably break up my marriage if my husband read it.

Anyway, I love your blog, I love your writing style and wish I could be chatty like you about stuff. Sigh.

fellowmom
fellowmom
16 years ago

What’s great about your blog is that you deal with your stuff, AND a lot of people find it interesting/humorous/worth reading. That’s not easy. I’ve been reading your blog since back when you were living in the apartment in Seattle. Your entry about trying on bras was one of the first ones I told my friends about. (Coming full circle, with yesterday’s entry.) Sometimes I wonder if you hold back more now that you have a lot more readers. It doesn’t matter, because that’s your bidness, and I still like reading your blog. It was never about voyeurism. I have just wondered generally about the tradeoff between increased readership and a blog’s function as a place to process your gunk.

AndreAnna
16 years ago

An older woman in my creative nonfiction literature class in college wrote a piece about being raped as a teenager and how she never told anyone. And about what that did to her life. It was candid, painful, explicit, and beautiful. And when people would ask her why she didn’t write about it until that moment, why she never “came clean,” she said it wasn’t until her mother died that she felt she could write the words down. She was always afraid of what her mother would say of her writing – if the criticism she would receive is anyone ever “found her out.” She was an ordained minister, as was her mother.

I felt bad for her then, for keeping all those emotions bottled for so many years, but totally understood where she was coming from.

As open as we all are in our blogs, behind the saftey of the internet, in the comfort of supportive friends, we still chose what we say and how we say it. Maybe even more so with a blog, because we have that wonderful backspace key. And some people are afraid of facing themselves honestly and truly because they worry who will read it and who will judge them. And how hurtful it is to be judged when you put your true self out there.

Thank you for not being afraid.

Jessica
Jessica
16 years ago

Your post has embarrassed me twice, for not only do I harbor a secret love of Cathy (it was better in the 80s, when I was 10), but also, I non-ironically own the DVD of Showgirls. When Nomi vomits in the parking lot, it is pure pathos.

Sarah
16 years ago

Fellow Chesty, in da house..

Not that ALL of your post wasn’t on the money (it couldn’t have been more true had it been bound in a gold-leaf edged Bible), but I was excited to hear that Turbo Jam worked for someone. I’m totally buying that.. because YOU said so.

Feel the power you weld.

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