Tue, July 22, 2003
Because I occasionally need a break from self-examination, I have been turning to the web to examine others. Good bloggers are fun to read because they talk about things that interest me, they speak eloquently and have neat ideas, and they are usually pretty damn funny.
This week, through a series of links (I always end up following a series of links even though I'm distinctly not that kind of web surfer), I ended up at Tomato Nation. I'm not sure whether it's a blog or what, in terms of its writing, but it features The Vine, which is an advice column. I can't believe this is the first time I've seen such a thing on one of these sites! What a brilliant idea! I'm instantly jealous.
Sars (rhymes with "ploughshares") has a quick wit and a wealth of common sense and every one of her responses makes you think "Yeah! That's the perfect answer!" True, most of them can be stripped down to "Be an adult" or in rare cases "Expect others to behave like adults." But she almost always backs that up with something sagacious and enlightening.
I'm so jealous. I have all kinds of opinions about other people's problems, honed over years of Loveline and Trading Spaces. And Dawson's Creek. Plus, Sars requires all letters to be signed with an alias, but she doesn't make enough out of them. Her response may excerpt the pseudonym but she doesn't play with it like I would.
For example, if a letter is signed "Love to Shop," Sars may begin her reply "Dear Love" or maybe "Dear Shopper." Me, I'd want to say "Dear Veto." "Seeking Normalcy Assurance" would be "King Normal." Assuredly, not all entries lend themselves to such devious segmentation, but it would be my goal to make sure that there was some sort of fun wordplay with each. Maybe this is a silly reason to want an advice column of my own, but it's one of many reasons and I think they're all damn good!
So, for the first time ever, I'm disappointed that my site's readership is around eight people all of whom I know and already give advice to when asked. I can't decide whether to just appropriate some of Sars's letters and give my own responses, or try "reviewing" her responses, or just write some fictitious letters of my own to get the ball rolling. Most importantly, I have to find a way to increase my readership, and increase it fast!
