When do you blog, and why?

I blog most on Tuesdays. Tuesdays tend to really bring out my blogging tendencies.

Why? In my teaching schedule for this semester, Tuesday is my busiest class-prep day. As a result, on Tuesday evenings, I usually find myself in front of the laptop, reviewing lecture notes for the next day’s class, making revisions, and so forth. It’s an activity that is demanding, and I need an occasional outlet for letting off steam. And so, on Tuesdays, I’m likely to take several short breaks from my lecture notes and make quick comments on T&S or other blogs — nothing too time-consuming, but something short and distracting. (I may even type up the simple post — like this one).

No one really knows this cycle except for my wife and a few friends, but I notice it every time I start making comments on Tuesday evenings. And the pattern, on a meta-level, is one that will likely continue for some time (though the particular day or days will change in the new semester as my teaching days change). Other than that, I’m likely to blog in the morning, from work, when I’m bored. I don’t blog a whole lot from home, but it happens every now and then.

When do you blog — comment, post, or just lurk — and why?

52 comments for “When do you blog, and why?

  1. LDS blogging is my secret shame. I’m an ordinary gay man living in Southern California with my wonderful partner and our 16 year old daughter (his biological child from an early Catholic marriage). We’re very blessed in many ways, current algebra grade notwithstanding.

    My job is stressful: I’m an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) running a psychiatric program at a major medical center. It’s a perfect vocation for me, but my patients are very ill and sometimes I just need to escape into another world in my office.

    Enter the bloggernacle. Almost nobody close to me knows that I am a long-inactive member. My partner knows my background and thinks I have some residual “weird Mormon obsession.” My few LDS colleagues view me as their cool gay friend (I’m sure the relationship makes them feel quite tolerant and Christ-like). Mostly I blog at work. My partner travels a lot on business, and sometimes I blog at home when he is away.

    For reasons I cannot explain and which are probably quite irrational, even post-Proclamation I hope that someday families like mine could be part of the Church. I find it to be a most remarkable, life-changing organization. Perfect? Ha! “Only True”? Not betting on it. Utterly unique and compelling? Yes.

    So here I am. Hope you will tolerate my 5-cent’s worth from time to time. If you’re interested in a different perspective, I think I can help provide it.

  2. I do a lot at night, because that is my decompress time. I do a little during the day, because I need to decompress then, too! (I also have some chronic health problems and sometimes sitting is about all I have the energy for….)

    I love chewing on ideas, developing my own thoughts and trying to articulate them, and understanding other people’s points of view. I feel I get a little bit of everything (including a little break and some adult “conversation”) on the bloggernacle. It also gives me something for my brain to do while I’m doing the mundane things around the house…thinking about this concept here, mulling over another concept there.

  3. Mike,

    I live in West L.A., just We of WeHo. You should bring your family to my ward some time (our boundaries go all the way to La Cienga) and we’ll see together just how much of a part of church your family could be. You might be surprised, or it might be a disaster, but if it’s a disaster we can just cut out early with both our families and go get something to eat. It’s that giant chapel behind that giant temple on Santa Monica, you can’t miss it. I’m dead serious.

    I blog very late at night on weeknights. Typically, because I’m avoiding writing or rewriting something else.

  4. Mike,

    I live in West L.A., just We of WeHo. You should bring your family to my ward some time (our boundaries go all the way to La Cienga) and we’ll see together just how much of a part of church your family could be. You might be surprised, or it might be a disaster, but if it’s a disaster we can just cut out early with both our families and go get something to eat. It’s that giant chapel behind that giant temple on Santa Monica, you can’t miss it. I’m dead serious.

    I blog very late at night on weeknights. Typically, because I’m avoiding writing or rewriting something else.

  5. I blog only when I have something I’m supposed to be doing — sleeping, writing a Primary lesson, etc. If I genuinely have nothing I should be doing (computer or not) I treat it as a glorious excuse to escape the basement, and go watch a DVD, take a walk, etc. The only time of year where I can sit in front of or near a computer without having Firefox at least open, is National Novel Writing Month. That’s when I use my special writer settings in Windows — which disable internet access altogether. ^_^ If I really need something written any other time, I use an ancient AlphaSmart, and plug it into the computer and transfer into Word when I’m done (and even then, I’m liable to do offline blogging in a secondary file — to transfer into a comment box or the Blogger interface when I get back to my PC.) Who, me, an addict? Never!

    Brian G.,

    When I was 16 I took the bus from Long Beach to the LA temple to do baptisms for the dead (my home branch was in northern Ohio, and my nonmember dad had custody of me.) I’ve always wondered if that big building had services in it (I was too scared to ask); thanks for clearing that up. ^_^

  6. What I’ve seen in general in the ‘Nacle is that many people take a moderate break from blogging on weekends. Most blogging seems to take place on weekdays.

  7. I blog at T&S because I’m interested in the opinions of the regular bloggers who have similar or same religious beliefs as I do. I’m interersted (and encouraged) that those of us with the same religious persuasions can have diverse political and social opinions – and discuss them intelligently and with civility. I sometimes find the discussion over my head, from an intellectual or academic standpoint, and on those occasions I usually refrain from writing (although sometimes I like to add sarcasm.) I also blog at some political sites but I find the exchanges far less civil and sometimes very childish. I appreciate the atmosphere of T&S. I usually blog on the weekdays, during the work hours. I sometimes feel guilt spending my working hours reading and writing blogs but there are lulls in my day when I need a break for a brief moment (at least that’s my rationalization.) I find that I am also blogging more and more on weekends and in the evenings.

  8. There is no rhyme or reason to my blogging, probably because I have to neailed donwn schedule for anything besides work and classes. When I’m at work, there is no computer and when I am at school, I am in class or a meeting, and there are no computers there, either.

    All in all, I’d say I spend too much time in the Nacle. I’m I’m not writing, I’m reading or commenting, usually while google chatting with someone from the bloggernacle.

    Do we have a 12 step program?

  9. That comment was a mess.

    This, I should point out, is why I rarely post upon just waking up, before my cup of coffee. ;o)

  10. Usually in the mornings, since I don’t leave for work until about 8:30am, and I get home about 7:30pm. And throughout the day if it’s slow at work.

  11. To some here at Times & Seasons I’m like some stray, overly friendly dog that’s suddenly shown up in the neigborhood and’s been randomly following one or another of you around for a while, curiously observing what you blog; and if one’s occasionally cheered by my apparent freindliness, most simply are wary to approach too closely to me, ‘caus well I appear to be just a bit mangey and God knows where I’ve been! lol But the saving grace to this self-caricaturization is I’m bound to stray off to a fascination elsewhere just as suddenly as I arrived —

  12. Unfortunately, I am usually a guest in the Bloggernacle while I’m at work, during my prep periods and lunch, when I should be actually prepping lessons, marking papers, etc. I also am here after the kids are in bed and on Saturday afternoons when I’m bored and the kids are watching a movie or cartoon. Why? Because after a whole life of never having any interesting conversations at church, I am finding out there really are interesting, intelligent people out there and I’m loving what everyone is saying. I just love it!

  13. I do most of my blog reading at work while burning a disk, waiting for something to print, eating lunch or just when I want to take a break. I do most of my blog writing late at night after my wife has fallen asleep on the couch… “I swear honey, I was writing about why it’s okay to watch R-rated movies…it’s not what you think!”

    The reason I blog is because I enjoy conversations and being a Mormon provides endless conversations. The sad thing is that during my day if some thought comes into my head I almost immediately thing “I should write a post about this.”

  14. When: During the day when the students are engaged; in the evenings when I should be marking papers.

    Why: Decompression and adult interaction.

  15. I blog in my cute little office which is my safe place. I start in the morning, usually, with the news on tv in the background, with my books and special things around and talk on the phone at the same time. Why? Because it feeds my soul. I amost always click on your links, but forget to notice the links on the other blogs, for who knows why. I have a list of about 15 favorites, but I know there are tons of others.

    Sometimes I check back in the evening, if I’m not in bed by 7 pm.

  16. I blog while my baby is playing by himself, because it is something that can be readily abandoned to rescue him from bonked heads and pinched fingers. I can always hear where my baby is from the computer (he is always letting out a constant stream of baby babble), and I can nearly always see him (we have a small apartment). Lots of times my comments come out pretty disjointed because I had to stop halfway through typing it.

    Danithew (#6) I’ve also noticed the weekend blogging break.

  17. I blog intermittently every day, from both work and home, including weekends (I too have noticed the drop off in quantity of posts during weekends). It seems like a bunch of running conversations on interesting topics with a lot of smart Mormons, which is very appealing to me.

    Mike, I’m glad you’re here.

  18. I blog all day long. I have a very active board (Sondheim & Us) that I moderate, and I also like to come to the LDS blogs too, to see my friends here, and maybe scold them (I get a kick out of scolding my friends, I guess).

    I don’t have a job, couldn’t you tell? It’s not a sustainable lifestyle — probably end with me homeless at the end of this year.

  19. I read as I nurse my infant, which can be as often as every hour. These days I only comment (or write posts) during the rare nap period when I don’t have something else pressing to do, or when I’m sufficiently compelled by a conversation to type while nursing. That’ll give you a good crick in the neck, believe me. (I remember typing a lot with older babies nursing—in fact, a not-insignificant portion of my dissertation was composed that way, I think—so I’m hoping soon that will change.)

  20. D., I need you to scold me now. It’s one of those rare nap periods, and I really need to be working on a lecture on Julius Caesar I foolishly agreed to give next month.

  21. Good thing you don’t have twins Rosalynde!

    LOL I love the image you’ve provided.

  22. I spend most of my mornings thinking about how I should post more at BCC, since I promised Steve I would. My slothfulness makes me a liar. Then I feel guilty about this over lunch, come over to T&S to kill time, and make snide, non-substantive comments in the various threads, which are usually tangential to the main topic, sometimes pseudonymous, and almost never as funny as I’d like to pretend. Then Steve gets wind of the fact that I am shirking my permablogger duties, and typing mindless crap over here, and he sends me a hateful email, threatening to banish me to M* if I don’t pull my weight. Then I feel guilty again, promise to do better, swear I’ve got like 37 half-composed blog posts in the queue, and tell Steve to brace himself for something profound and moving in the days to come. Then it’s time for bed.

    Morning comes, and I begin the cycle all over again…

    Aaron B

  23. I have a two-month-old baby who is a “snuggler,” that is, he is perfectly happy and content as long as he’s being held 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if it’s only laying in my lap, he just craves that warmth. So I spend a lot of time with him laying in my lap. We’re a bit short of comfy chairs in our house because of a tight budget, so I usually just sit on the computer chair. With a baby on my lap I can’t go anywhere or do anything, so I blog and read blogs. I feel guilty that the blogs get read even when the dishes don’t get done, but that’s the way it is.

  24. Rosalynde: a pillow between the baby and your lap will get the crick out of your neck. That, or being so saggy that you don’t have to raise the infant’s head very far. ;) Seriously, I use this nice feather pillow, whenever my other kids haven’t run off with it.

  25. Bertrand Russell once said, “Boredom as a factor in human behavior receives, in my opinion, far less attention than it deserves.” Chalk me up as someone who blogs because he’s bored.

  26. No doubt Bertrand Russell was right. While I’m not trying to aim this at DKL, his comment reminded me of a (sorta funny) mission experience Someone was asking me why I was doing something (I can’t remember what) and my petulant response was “estoy aburrido” or “because I’m bored.”

    The rude response: “No se aburre” or “don’t bore yourself.”

  27. when- daytime, when the kdis are napping or playing nicely or otherwise engaged and I have time to quickly (ha!) check the computer but don’t beleive I have time to pick up a book.
    why- to learn and keep my mind active.

  28. When – mostly in the evening, while the Kid is doing homework or asleep. Rarely, during the day.

    Where – I have my own blog, where I almost never write about Mormon stuff. I’ve been trying to scale back my participation in the ‘nacle and most things Mormon, with varying degrees of success.

    I think it’s funny that the ‘nacle has bunches of new posts on Mondays. Doesn’t anybody blog on their OWN time? What does that do to y’all’s billable hours?

  29. During work/study breaks for me at random times.

    (I’d also be curious about how people use the ‘Nacle—how many people use aggregators vs. just surfing the net. Just surfing I forget which threads I’ve been following and which posts I’ve read, but I haven’t established a very efficient aggregator habit/method…. I intend this as a suggested future post, not as a thread-jack….)

  30. I blog to keep up on what my son is doing, also to to stay in touch with what is going on. I do it when I am not being drawn into a spider solitar game (curnetly I’ve got a 83% win rate on Medium setting).

  31. I mostly lurk. T&S is really the only blog I pay much attention to. Once in a while I will comment, but I learned early on that I don’t really have much to contribute. I will say, however, that I have learned much from my lurking at T&S. I have been impressed with the level of intelligence, as well as the accompanying courtesy from most people. I have also been impressed with the individuals here who seem to have the ability to examine the gospel on a deep level without appearing to sacrifice their testimonies. There are a variety of perspectives here, and I’ve even learned from those I strongly disagree with (I especially appreciate the perspective of those who have left the Church or gone inactive (because I am active and have no intentions of ever leaving the Church, and recognize that I may have opportunities to help members around me who may be “on the bubble.”)).

  32. “I think it’s funny that the ‘nacle has bunches of new posts on Mondays.”

    I often have time to write something over a weekend but I won’t post it until Monday, when folks are reading the blog.

    “What does that do to y’all’s billable hours? ”

    Reasons 1-25 why I gave up blogging at work.

  33. I blog cyclically, about once a month (probably around the time of the full moon). I mostly read lds blogs, and comment sparingly only here at T&S. I only recently began contributing comments until I realized how time consuming it can be (which is why I don’t comment at other blogs as well, although I really enjoy reading them).

    I really don’t know how so many of you can provide quality ideas so often. When I have posted a comment in the past, I usually have had to write several drafts of the comment before submitting it to make sure there are no logical errors. Consequently, because of the time restraint, I’ve reverted back into an occassional reader.

    To those of you who dedicate the time, I salute you, even if your spouses are calling you to bed or your bosses are wondering why your billable hours are so erratic. :)

  34. #4, Brian G: That’s very kind, and interesting. I’ve been wanting to visit a sacrament meeting for a while. What time on Sundays? Is that the ward that Arthur Kane attended? I recently watched New York Doll and was struck by how positively the Church was portrayed in the film, and the fact that he lived so near me in WeHo. Who knew there were any active members between Robertson and La Cienega???

    #37, Dan S: Yeah, I wonder the same thing…..how can there be no logical errors here in the bloggernacle??

  35. To keep sane in the trenches of mommydom. Blogging lets the thoughts out of my mind and free’s me from their echos. Allows me to have somewhat intelligent discourse, albeit online, with other adults about interesting things not pertaining to ketchup, sesame street, noggin, or cheerios.

    And I do it mostly at night after the kids are snoozin, or at the ever more elusive and rare nap-time.

  36. One other thing I’ve noticed … the Bloggernacle is typically pretty slow on Thursdays – at least on Thursday mornings. Maybe that’s the catchup day for all the previous blogging that took place.

  37. I read the blogs early in the morning after my kids go to school. Once they come home in the afternoon they all need the computer and my attention. I enjoy the interesting and stimulating ideas that are presented. I have learned a great deal from so many of you. Thanks.

  38. I come aboard every few months when I have an LDS question I want answered. For instance, last Christmas I came aboard because I had a question about musicians in the Church; I got swept into the whole excellent Joseph Smith discussion. Here in April I came aboard because I have a question about the LDS take on “Passion Parties” and I have found an excellent discussion about musicians in the Church. I hope that in July when I have a question about “letter of the law” leaders, there will be an excellent discussion about “Passion Parties”. I can hope!

  39. I forgot to say that I post whenever I please, as long as husband or children or friends do not need me.

  40. Daniel, I did answer your e-mail. Not nagging, but I didn’t want you to think I dissed you. Actually, I always answer e-mails. It’s a character defect.

  41. Mike,

    Fantastic, sounds like we’re close to a plan.

    The Westwood 2nd ward starts at 9 am with priesthood and the Westwood 1st ward starts at 10 am with sacrament meeting. I recently moved from one ward to the other and know plenty of people in both so take your pick, they’re both great wards. New York Doll is a great film. Arthur Kane was in the Westwood 1st ward and was actually my home teacher. He was very dedicated. Incidentally, the director of New York Doll is now the bishop of the Westwood 1st ward, and one of Arthur’s former bishops that appears in the film is currently the Stake President. I’d be glad to introduce you to either of them.

    The only hitch is I’m working in Utah right now and won’t be back in L.A. until mid-to-late May. However, if you can’t wait to check things out, I’d be glad to get a friend to meet you and show you around if you’d like, or if you want to check it out on your own, please, feel free. The chapel has a balcony, which is relatively rare in Mormon meetinghouses. It’s perfect for surreptitious church attendance, including arriving late or leaving early.

    West on Santa Monica. Right on Manning right before the temple, and left on Ohio. You can’t miss it.

    The more I think about it, the more I think you’d have a positive experience. Part of the reason I feel that way, and am encouraging you to visit, is because every ward I’ve been in in the L.A. stake has had at least one gay member who has carved a place for themself and more often than not held a calling. I’m not saying it’s been easy for them, but it’s at least possible. If you decide to go be sure and invite your partner and your daughter, if they don’t come, where’s the sense of fun and adventure?

    Sincerely,

    BrianinNoProVo

  42. OK, I’ll visit a Sacrament service eventually. At the very least, I can blog about it somewhere. For what it’s worth, in a white shirt and tie I’m indistinguishable from the rest of y’all.

    I’ll try to bring the family, but might wind up solo. My partner would sooner send me to the Telestial Kingdom (or whatever middle-seat economy class afterlife I’m facing) than let me take our daughter to a Mormon service. Hope you can understand. There is a certain reputation.

    Arthur Kane was your home teacher?? Wow. That is cool, and kind of funny. He seemed a bit, well, slow (in the movie at least). But what a good guy.

    Email me: [email protected]

  43. Mike and Brian,
    There used to be a special sacrament meeting on the third Friday of every month in your stake, presided over by the Stake President who was a member of the Westwood First Ward (still is), for those who were not comfortable coming on Sunday — providing for the gay community. (From what I understand they were some of the most spiritual meetings, and I even heard some of the women say that’s where the best-looking men were…) I don’t think it’s happening anymore because he’s not stake president anymore, but I know they all get together for a Christmas party every year at his home. Anyway, my point is that LA stake and especially Westwood First Ward is a very tolerant place to be if you’re looking to go back to church. Enjoy!

  44. I blog mostly on Saturdays if I’m reading other people’s stuff, or evenings during the week when I’m preparing my own (which consist mostly of study materials for the Sunday School lessons).

    Why do I blog? Because I’m a frustrated writer. This is a way to publish, both my Sunday School stuff and my other ideas, without the costs (including the costs of learning to be a better writer). I also blog because, like many others here, I like to “talk” with people about ideas. (I also like to gossip, but I take care of that at dinner with the family on Sundays.)

    Finally, I blog because it is a great way to make the acquaintance of any number of very interesting people, as this thread has well-illustrated.

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