Friday 22 January 2010

I have been trying to explain

"the blog thing" to my father. My father loves reading but he is not happy writing. Part of this has to do with the fact that he finds the physical act of writing a chore. His writing is close to illegible. I do not know who taught him to write but they did not do a good job. He grips his writing instrument as if it is about to run from him and laboriously forms the letters. He still writes a flat topped "8" - and one of my nephews once asked what it was.
My father's method of typing is the Columbus method - discover and land. That does not hasten the process of putting words on paper.
Then there are the words themselves. He uses too many. He will write something out and show me. I will say, "Why didn't you just say...?" Sometimes he will say, "I want to write to...about...." I will stand there and dictate it.
My father has a degree in English. He has an excellent vocabulary. He still reads widely and on all manner of subjects - after all he will be 'only 87' in a couple of weeks. That is much too young to stop learning. It is just the act of writing that seems to bother him.
I think it may be a generational thing. People wrote more in the past. He thinks things should be long. The idea of writing a diary or a blog is just not his "thing". I tell him it does not matter. He does not need to do it. He still wants to know why I want to do it. I tell him it is good discipline. If, as sometimes, I do not get anything else worthwhile written then I will have written something. I will not be putting in fancy photographs. I have still not found out how to put in the little links you can just double click on and get to the right address on the internet. I do not know how to turn the screen blue and the writing red. I sometimes wonder what to say but I will say something.
It does not matter if nobody reads it - but the comments encourage me to continue. I am not sure I want to turn the writing red. It does not matter. It does not matter. I am making myself use words. It's the 'blog thing' and it is the best explanation I have.

8 comments:

Rachel Fenton said...

I'm so glad you do blog, Cat, that you are "out there"! Thank you.

The link thing is not difficult but it's a bit of a faff...I can never remember the right order to do it in so I have to to and fro between the pages...easiest way is to open the page you want to link yo in a new tab/window and then I can't remember if you copy the url at this stage or if you highlight the text on your blog forst then click link and then paste the url into the box that pops up when you cclick link...I make even the simplest of things seem challenging! I like to keep things simple, too...life's really too short for too many links anyway!

Perhaps the words mean something different when they are written slowly, deliberately, by hand...?


Anyway, pulling myself together now!

Old Kitty said...

Hi

Well I like your blog and find what you say very stimulating and it always encourages debate which is a great thing!

And happy birthday to your dad in two weeks' time!

:-)

I think it's great that there are a whole variety of blogs out there - from those full of pics and graphics and video links etc to just a blog diary of words to specialised blogs to just someone wanting to say hello, I'm here how are you?

More power to you and your blog. And to everyone else's too of course!

Take care

x

Rachel Fenton said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
catdownunder said...

And guess what I have for his birthday...er, um...yes, another book!

Anonymous said...

Well I read your blog, and I enjoy it!

I think you are correct in saying it is a generational thing, but then each to their own.

catdownunder said...

Ah, I enjoy yours Donna - all those books you mention that I will probably never read but hopefully add to a list!

Anonymous said...

I think we might be sisters ...... or at least cousins! I don't try to explain the blog thing to my Dad ....... and his writing is shocking, worse as his hands get a bit shaky, but he has a great way with words if he does put pen to paper. He wrote just a few words on my last birthday card which brought the house down amongst family members, and my sister who lives around the corner from him refuses to write on cards for him after finding out how well he can do it, even i fthe writing is shaky!
I think I've got the link thing down pat ..... sometimes I get it in one go!
Judy B

Rebecca Knight said...

Awww, your dad sounds kind of adorable :). Happy early b-day to him!

Also, the blogging thing is very hard to explain, but you're totally right--it's like getting your daily brain exercise in :). Keep it up!