Drama...It's Everywhere You Want to Be

I write.

I write because I love it and because I'm good at it. If I can entertain, enlighten, or irritate someone else along the way, that's an added bonus. But mostly I write to satisfy my need for a creative outlet and I've been doing so since I knew how to write.

Up until recently, I only had a passing knowledge of the so-called blogosphere. I mean, I knew it existed and had certainly been a part of it for years with my other blogs, but it never occurred to me there were actually individual people out there blogging randomly for a living (or trying to).

Enter knitting.

One day, not too long after I began knitting, I went in search of a simple knitted hat pattern and stumbled across Crazy Aunt Purl and her Easy Roll-Brim Knit Hat Recipe. Of note, step #11 of the pattern?

11. Now, you're gonna start decreasing. Also, you may want to have some wine or beer handy since the double-pointed needles are coming. I'm just saying, is all.

Oh Purl! Will you be my friend? I have gum and I have wine and I'll share.

Anyway, not the point. The point is that upon discovering Crazy Aunt Purl and her awesome blog that really has little to do with knitting and knitting patterns, I realized there was a whole 'nother blogging world out there of which I'd been unaware. The world of women-who-blog. And many of these women are women kinda like me - by that I mean sometimes single, but also? Also, crazy, knitting, aspiring cat ladies who drink wine and fall over and spill on themselves and occasionally say and do stupid things then write about it.

How I do love the internets.

And that's why I'm here, with this blog. To write, yes. To hone my writing skills for an audience, definitely. And also to hopefully be a part of a network of fabulous, witty, talented women who are kinda like me.

Enter Dooce.

Who's Dooce, you ask? Dooce is only the most popular woman life blogger on the internets today. She is extraordinarily talented in writing and photography. She is also beautiful and probably the most successful of all bloggers. She has built a blogging empire with those talents and makes enough money to support her husband and two children with it.

Now, I don't actually care particularly about Dooce. I read her blog and I like it. But I don't love her like I love Purl or Kristy or a handful of others. But can anyone say wow! Way to go, Dooce! She's living the dream so many writers/bloggers have...may be a pioneer of sorts. And can you believe there are women who hate her for that?

Enter the drama llama.

On Dooce's blog, there is a HATE link. If you click on it, you will see vile blog entries written by other bloggers who hate Dooce for her success. Seriously. Google Dooce sucks and see what you get. Just now I got 29,600 hits¹. That's alotta hate, people.

And I have to ask...why? Because she's popular? Because she's beautiful? Because she's talented and figured out how to market herself and is now living the dream?

That's just...silly!

I write because I want to, because I need to. Not because I have any real aspirations of becoming the next Dooce. But if I wanted to be the next Dooce? Rather than slamming her for doing what she does well and expending all my energy on hating her and telling everyone else how much I hate her², I'd get off my big ass and spend all my time making it happen.

Get over it, Ladies. Grow up and take charge of your own destinies. Sheesh!




<sup>1: Now, I didn't actually read all 29,600 hits or even skim all of them to see how relevant they were or even if they were in support of or opposed to Dooce. I have better things to do...like knit.

2: Because I don't hate her. She's not my favorite, but I like her well enough and, more importantly, I respect her and what she's done to make way for women like me.</sup>