I Sing the Blogger Electric

If Ms. P&C could be a William Klein portrait...It's difficult to please everyone when you're writing for yourself. You have an audience that you want to satisfy, but ultimately the blogosphere is all about subjective expression. When approaching a new blog you need to make some decisions about how you want it to go - what you want it to be about and what you DON'T want it to be about.

When I began I didn't want this to be a conduit of my entire life. No "photo of the day" or self-portraiture (what's the point? I'm already bored with my clothes! And anyone after Susie Bubble is frankly an amateur imitator...) or nitty-gritty details about my background, my work, my love life... Private life has to be private, but if you want to enjoy what I put out there publicly then please do!

Being a published blogger on this great big internet is really something quite interesting. People seem to adore you, hanging on everything you write - they think they know you. But the moment you write something somewhat contrary to their views (which are conveniently left un-published to the greater world thereby kept in the safety of subjectivity, all the while reserving the right to be indignant should they desire,) they take you to task...

Who the heck do I think I am? Why am I qualified to write this stuff? 

The beauty of it is, I'm the writer and editor here and I serve one master: myself. I answer to my instincts and ideas, and while I know I have the experience and education to know what I'm talking about, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

Apart from the nay-sayers, the only other thing one has to worry about are the copy-cats. Recently, I've noticed another blogger appropriating some of my ideas, even the name of one of my columns for their blog. Somehow this goes beyond two bloggers in a creative dialogue - especially since I've never received so much as a comment or email from said writer. While I wish I could say that I feel "flattered" as Marc Jacobs claims to feel in the face of rampant Louis Vuitton counterfeiting, it's lame to pretend this is so.This kind of thing is just cheap and rude.

The bloggers whose work I enjoy and have a relationship with (oooh - sounds like we're dating!) demonstrate the utmost respect and creative integrity for each other.

I'm constantly finding myself infatuated with some new writer's work, ideas, images...it's a great big internet out there and while there's a lot of cheap counterfeits, I'm priviledged to know some that are the real deal. There really is nothing like the prospect of new romance to put a spring in your step and a certain statuesqueness to your carriage. Or maybe it's just the "idea" of falling in love rather than the actual falling that carries us along on a bubbly cloud. Maybe it's falling in love with oneself that is the real key...

Remember when I wrote this post a while back? So many of my friends responded (alright, not on the commentary, but certainly in emails & phone calls) and ever since I've been attempting to practice what I preached. Once you get going, it's a really nice thing to do - I try to say "you look pretty" to at least one unknown each day. In fact, just this week I've been spreading the joy a little bit more and it seems to be a wonderful contagion. I'm just saying: pretty is as pretty does... If you need a little lift in sprits, give a lift to someone else! You'll find yourself falling in love with someone you know really well: you.

Maybe this is the drug that I'm spreading unknowingly through the blogosphere. Between the "how dare you" emails and the blatant rip-offs of my ideas, I suppose people are falling for P&C all over the place simply because I love it so much. I love spreading the P&C "pretty" and getting it back from the people whose work I especially enjoy...On this note, I would like to tell the following fabulous bloggers that, while I may have met you only once or twice, or even never... your writing, spirit, grace, and creativity challenge me to be all of those things each day. So, from me to you...You (and your blogs) look pretty!

Meg at Faking Good Breeding

Winona at Daddy Likey

Kristen at Sugarshock 

Meg at Chic & Charming

Kamela at Modern Girl

Victoria at sfgirlbybay

You make me smile, laugh, research, explore and be more stylish overall...
 

Comments

[Meg]

Hey Annie! First, let me tell you that I totally swooned when I read the title to this post- you're so good with words and cool references. Thank you so much for the shoutout and kind words, I feel exactly the same about you and P&C.

Also- I normally read P&C on my RSS reader, so I haven't seen the new design until now, but it looks gorgeous and so very you!

Hope your week is going well!

[chic and charming]

Thanks for the compliment! Your blog is always one of my favorites. Sometimes I read your posts and it is like you read my mind! I think my favorites since I've started reading were your post on the lack of RSVPing in today's culture and your post of P&C's paper anniversary.

[Kristen]

thanks Annie! It's great to be in the company of such fabulous bloggers!
on a side note; I too have noticed another blogger appropriating some of my ideas. While she provides a link back to my site, I can't help but feel robbed.
what to do?

[sfgirlbybay]

Thanks Annie! That was so well written - why didn't I write that? ;)

And, girl you just have to email me and tell me who the plagiarizer is, because I've got a couple, too, and I'm curious about yours. :)

Thanks again for the kind words - I happy to be included in such good company.

[maura]

ug ug ug --- not you m'dear --- plagerizers!!! my friend judy is a high school english teacher and has a fabulously scary speach on the evil deed that she gives at the beginning of every year, about how it's about honor and respect and self-respect and confidence, and the shame that necessarily attends those who steal another's written work . . . but much scarier than that, and she has kids almost crying! ;-) I'll see if I can get her to send some bullet points along

But all in all, there ain't nothing like the real thing, and that is unequivocally you! No cheap rip-off can compare.

[Kamela]

What a poetic & chic post! I think that women like us are leading a march into new & progressive avenues of thought, writing, beauty, and style.

Women like Rachel Zoe has made a fabulous career out of dressing celebs not just for red carpet events but shopping at the grocery store. She was one of the first stylists that has flipped the fashion world around by showing how important was for her clients to present an image that lands in the pages of US weekly, PEOPLE, & other tabloids mags. All it takes is one person to have a different vision-no matter what other people have to say about it.

So...Let's keep marching to our beat, loving what we love, & writing what we have to say! Cheers to Poetic & Chic and to your beautiful post!