Blogging... Is... Weird

Weird. I don't know how else to describe blogging other than it's just plain weird. We do it for so many reasons, but we do it nonetheless. Sharing our lives, our creations, things we covet etc. I've made so many amazing friends because of this blog, and I'm so grateful for my friendships that I wouldn't have otherwise. 

This past week, a friend received an email from an individual who took it upon herself to point out grammatical mistakes on her blog and how her lack of proofreading made reading her blog so difficult. It did not sit well with my friend. It did not sit well with myself or our fellow bloggers either. The fact that someone had taken the time to write such an email boggles my mind. Imagine sitting down to craft an email, berating someone you don't know with your unwarranted suggestions. It takes quite a lot of effort to be that cruel, no? Plus the idiot couldn't even write her email without grammatical errors. Good job. Bravo. Well done.

I would NEVER flat out correct someone. That was David Foster Wallace's lot in life... to be the annoying Grammar Police. Besides, he's forgiven because he was a beautiful writer. And always grammatically correct, mind you. I'm sure my own writing is riddled with mistakes.

Sometimes I get comments that I should have more quilting content. That I should have this or do that or blah blah blah. I also get emails asking me to give full instructions on how I did this or that. If I have the information readily available, I'm happy to pass along the information. But let me tell you about my creative process. I rarely write anything down. When I make a quilt, I scribble the math on pieces of paper, and when the quilt is done, the paper either gets lost in the mountain of mess in my studio, or it goes in the bin. It's pretty stupid, but that's how I work. A lot of times the emails are just demands. I appreciate that you like my work, but it's unfair to ask me write you a full pattern for nothing. It makes me feel like a massive bitch when I have to tell someone I don't know where the information is, but it's always the truth. 

I started this blog with no idea what it could bring or become. I was in a new land, no friends, nothing to do... I'm a writer, so the blog seemed like the obvious choice. It has gone from things I like, to knitting (for about half a minute), to quilting, and now there's bits of photography. There's no telling what my ADD-riddled brain will like next. This has never been just a quilting blog. This is an Audrie blog. It's my words, from my head and heart. I don't write for anyone but me, and you'll just have to be okay with that :)

We write our blogs for the love of it, not for monetary gain (well, mostly) and definitely not to please anyone. At least I hope not. I love my readers. I appreciate every single one of them. They've been good to me, and it still boggles my mind that people read what I write (I know I say this a lot, but it's true). So for someone to seek one of us out like that is just so unnecessary. If you don't like it, click on the little 'x' in the corner. I promise no one will lose sleep over it. A friend got told that she should write her FREE tutorials a bit better. How about 'thank you' instead? 

People hide behind the veil of the Internet and say things they would never say to that someone's face. Always ask yourself before you hit send... Would I say this to their face? Would I want someone to say this to me? And always remember what your momma taught you... if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. 

Bottom line: We love and appreciate our readers. We love that you learn things from us, that you like what we do. But we are just people. People with jobs, families, lives, chores. We are not a faceless corporation that is here to serve. 

I don't normally write posts like that but I hate seeing my friends get crapped on for no reason at all. I will step off my soapbox now.