It’s probably not a good idea to start an analogy with, “It’s kind of like, you know, if I were to pose nude for Playboy.” But, yes dear readers, that’s exactly how I tried to explain my blog to my family. As many of you know, I’ve been somewhat of an anonymous blogger — to the extent that’s even possible. When I started funkybrownchick.com (originally at funkybrownchick.blogspot.com), I didn’t tell anyone that I knew about it. At the time, I thought that blogging anonymously would allow me to blog more honestly. However, over the years, I’ve opened up a bit. I’ve told friends, a few family members, coworkers, and others about my blog. Recently, a woman from the church that I attended in Illinois when I was young told my sister about my blog. Why? I’m not quite sure. In any case, I’ve never been comfortable talking about my personal sex life with my family. So, yeah, it’s odd to know that she now knows about this blog. And, it was odder still to talk about why I tell strangers the details about my sex and dating life on a blog:
SIS: I don’t get it.
ME: It’s kind of like, you know, if I were to pose for Playboy. It’s okay if strangers see it, but it’s odd for people that I knew from church to see it. And, really, they would only know that I posed for Playboy if they were reading the magazine anyway. And, in that case, they should ask themselves why they’re reading Playboy instead of judging me for posing in the magazine. And, if they *didn’t* read Playboy but, after finding out that I posed naked in the November issue, they ran out to buy that magazine — that would kind of be like snooping. Wouldn’t it?
SIS: [silence]
ME: I’m not gonna pose for Playboy.
SIS: Oh, okay. Good.
Sheesh! Hope that’s the end of that conversation. In the meantime, over at Nerve, you can read more about my reactions to the fact that the folks from my hometown have discovered my blog at: How to Cheat, Get Caught, and Not Give a Damn.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Hahaha! Your conversation was great. Hope the acceptance continues. :)
How HORRIFYING…I would have a similar reaction if my own family found my blog. Mostly because I feel like we should all be entitled to something that is solely OURS. Granted, I realized this venue is online and available for ultimately the entire WORLD to read, but that’s not the same as someone who actually knows you in real life.
I can bet that upon finding out this news, you felt slightly violated and sick to your stomach. It doesn’t matter what you write on here, it’s more about how it might be interpreted by someone who knows a whole different side of you then you let us see here. Am I right? I certainly hope they respect you and stop reading. If not, well, they will just have to get used to the fact that you are a talented, multifaceted lady who has much more to say than they originally thought. SO THERE. ;o)
That’s scary! I feel exactly the way you do about blogging under an anonymous identity. Over the years the lines have blurred somewhat, where some friends I know in real life are aware and regularly read the blog. Sometimes I wish I could start over, completely anonymously again.
Goodluck with it though, hopefully you can pretend it never happened if your family never asks you about it again. That’s my general approach to these things!
Damn, and I was about to run out and buy the November issue…
kinda reminds me when my son, who lives in california, found my wifes myspace page…….My wife’s an exhibitionist…I’ll leave it at that…
I am so afraid of anyone in my family finding my blog. Which is why I’ve completely changed to a new site. I’m sure you won’t have to go that far, though.
Gah. That is my nightmare–my family finding my blog. It’s not even that I write anything so scandalous; I just don’t particularly want them popping in. My friends who do know about the blog don’t understand that… it seems something only fellow bloggers relate to.
I hope you’re able to be OK with this development, without feeling the need to self-censor more.
That happened to me a few years back, and I was freaked out for a while. Now my mom says she doesn’t read my blog because it’s “too personal.” I think this is hilarious… if she doesn’t read it, how does she know it’s “too personal?” She also always seems to send emails inquiring about how I am and urging me to see a doctor, at particularly coincidental times… like when I was blogging about having a lot of headaches one weekend.
Hey Funky B!
Long time no speak…
When are you going to do the Dating Roadkill show again?
@ Howard: I hope so, too! :)
@ AmyD: Exactly!!
@ Darwin: Do you read Andy’s blog? He’s moved a couple of times for that very reason. Same with the Eddie.
@ Baba Doodlius: Already got it. ;)
@ Dkzone: WOW!!! That must have been a slightly horrible experience for everyone involved.
@ CJ: Yeah, I know a couple of my readers have started over anonymously, and I understand why people do it. For me, for now, I’m not going anywhere. FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com, baby. I was born a funky brown chick. I’m going to stay a funky brown chick, damn it! :)
@ Stefanie: Exactly! I don’t even think my blog is particularly risque. It’s more about what I share with my family and what I don’t. I don’t want them to worry about me. So, I typically censor stuff that I tell them about New York. How that that’s gone, my fear is that they’ll worry about me.
@ Amber: That’s too funny!!! She doesn’t read it because it’s “too personal”, but she would only know that it was personal if she’d been reading it. Your mom sounds cute/sweet! :)
@ Gorilla Guys: I owe you guys a telephone call!!! Dating Roadkill is coming back soon, I swear! :) I had a couple of other projects develop (and a couple fall through), so I couldn’t imagine bringing back the show at the same time. There’s a new change coming up on the FBC soon. Dating Roadkill is part of that. Details coming soon, I promise.
Actually it wasn’t so bad. My son is 18 and from a previous relationship. He’s never met my new wife (got married in vegas in april). My wifes page just has a picture of her cleavage, and he saw my picture in her personal pictures. Turns out….my bi wife and my son have the the same taste in women, they both have mutual myspace friends and thats how they found each other.
Let me clear something up…..my relationship with my son is not the best and sometimes the communication fades out between us. Although we try and stay in touch, we live cross country.
don’t like to mix family with blogging either. that’s why i write in friends only mode (over livejournal. but i write in portuguese, that’s why i don’t post the link).
@ Dkzone, that’s a crazy/weird event right there.
FB, I’d feel weird if my family read my blog and my blog doesn’t dive into my personal-personal stories. Not yet atleast. I couldn’t imagine my family reading my stories of dating and sex. I do love how you take it in strive though. Like a true champ.
I bet when you get that column in the NY Times it’s not going to be so weird to them :)
@ Dkzone: They randomly found each other via mutual MySpace friends. Are you kidding me?!?!!? That’s a GREAT story. I swear, every day, I’m constantly amazed that the world is so small. By the way, no sweat about the family communication stuff. No judgments here. All families come in different shapes and sizes. And everyone’s family has some different “thing” to it.
@ Carolina Pereira: Ooooh, I have a friend living in Belguim who writes his entire blog in Portuguese. :-) “Portuguese: The Language of Anonymous Blogging.”
@ K: Oh, I try. I’ve found that life has a tendency to throw all kinds of crazy shit my way, but I try to stop freaking out about it. I’ve learned that it’s easier to take things when you don’t freak out. Oh and …. A column in the NY Times??? A girl can dream, can’t she? ;-)
Thanks….although I was mildly disturbed by seeing my son display his ” sixpack”……Then i thought about it and was proud that he’s taking care of the family genepool body. LOL
I imagine that would be the conversation I would have with my mother if she discovered my OTHER blog.
@ Dkzone: Your son is a younger man with a six pack? Is he single? ;-)
@ GrizzBabe: Oooh, you have an “OTHER” kind of blog? Sounds juicy. Do we know about this? Where it is?!?!? :)
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
You don’t have to. :)
Истинно человечный муж добивается всего собственными усилиями…
———————
Здания серии 1