Sunday, November 06, 2005

The true meanning of blogging

I have a most interesting chat with Victor yesterday, mostly via sms (and part MSN). Victor's has been pretty prolific in his blog entry of late; no doubt encouraged and buoyed up by comments to his blog he had received from other bloggers (beside me). From what Victor said was a "challenge" to prove that an old dog can indeed do a blog, and a pretty good one at that, Victor has turned blogging into a passion (of sort), touching from poor services in Singapore, to his pessimism in life, his childhood and his first car and camera.

Currently, Victor is waxing lyrical about the "vanishing scenes" of Singapore. You know, the historical buildings such as the National Theatre and the National Library that were torn down to give way for the modernization of Singapore.

Well, his pet topic has attracted comments from fellow-bloggers alike who share Victor's passions and sentiments on all things old and over the hill - old buildings (not necessarily those that have been torn down), antiques camera and his first car, and yes, memories of yesteryears. Man can be such sentimental "fools", don't you agree? And I don't mean this in an insulting sort of way. I myself am guilty of being a sentimentalist if you were to read my blog on Club Street, the place where I grew up. Old things always hold dear to us, like how old songs and movies evoke memories of friendship, childhood and yes, even romance.

But Victor missed the point when he told me having a central theme on your blog is essential if you want others to read and comment on your blog. I don't dispute that. But blogging to me is not about attracting comments. Blogging to me is a form of self-expression; just like when a pianist plays his piano. I blog whenever the moods call for it, whether I'm happy, down or out. I blog anything I want, anything I like and dislike, as long as I don't hurt anybody willfully. It's a therapeutic outlet for me to express the joy, disappointment and meaning of life. Surely, if Victor has read bloggers like Mr Brown, Caleb Cowboy and Rockson, he would have also noticed that they have no theme whatsoever on their blogs. They blog just about anything under the sun (Rockson also blogs about everything under the blanket cover .. hehehe). And their blogs have attracted comments like bees to nectar.

So Victor, way to go man on your blog! But I'll stick to my style, comments or no comments, thank you very much. Well, I guess it's different strokes for different folks when it comes to certain things...

5 comments:

Victor said...

Chris, please stick to your own style. The last thing I want is that you act like someone else or do what you don't like. But I still stand by my comments that having a theme in your posts will attract commentators who have the same interest - this has been proven true on 2 occasions.

If attracting commentators to your blog is the last thing on your mind when you blog, it's fine. No one is complaining, not even me. In fact, when I wrote that vanishing series, attracting comments wasn't at all on my mind.

You have your own unique style. As you have rightly pointed out, this is proven by the number of hits recorded by your counter (240+) in just over 2 days since it was in place (provided of course, the figure was genuine and not doctored, hee).

Chris Sim said...

朋友,

感激你明白事理。我的风格可是独一无二的噢
!嘻嘻!!

Lam Chun See said...

From one fool to another: I would like to recommend you a song; "Fool that I am" by Rita Coolidge.

Sentimentality - isn't that makes us different from animals. That's why I think the theory of evolution is absolute rubbish. It is this same sentimentality that has inspired the greatest works of art.

Chris Sim said...

I'm not sure about that, Chun See. When our former president passed on, his pomeranian was reported to be so depressed that its lost his appetite for food, walked all over the house looking for its master, and occasionally was found hiding under the bed. Is this being sentimental? If it is, then our four-legged friends are certainly no different from you and me.

Back to the evolution theory. Scientists can say what they want but I'm a firm believer of the existence of a Higher Being. And perhaps something that my be of interest to you, Chun See - Teachers in some public schools in the US have been ordered to tell pupils that Darwin's theory of evolution is unproven, and that the universe is so complex that it may have been created by a higher power. Click hereto read more about it.

Chris Sim said...

Chun See - Wah a slide rule? I've never seen one, much less used one! Er... i young(er) mah. Hee. You, like Victor, must have a rich and eventful childhood, judging by the many photos you put up in your blog which always evoke a feeling of nostalgia, pretty much like Victor's.

Victor - Ya, sometimes, even if the stuff is torn or conked, we still hold them dear, all for sentimental value and reason. This reminds my of my personal experience. The Slim Lady sewed a cross-stitch of a pair of cute Precious Moments bride and groom months before we got married. She even had our names sewn on it. We had it hung on the wall by our bed, you know, where most people have their wedding photo instead. Then a few years back, we moved to our new place. One day, on my way home from work, I spotted the cross-stitch in my corridor, along with other garbage and junk, clearly meant for the HDB cleaner. I picked up the cross-stitch, went back into the house and asked the Slim Lady why she threw THAT away. She said the glass of the frame has cracked and so, time to throw! I couldn't believe my ears! Aren't women supposed to be more sentimental then we men?