esrosedotblog

SOAP SUDS

I was away for a couple of days and, as a result, missed out on the daily flow of the 20-25 blogs that I read and/or scan every day.

This stuff ranges from serious political blogs to unserious political blogs to plain vanilla news to the very best compendium of news of gay interest (Towleroad.com) to some personal blogs of people I know, and finally, to the dessert—uuhhhh, well, you know—the kind of blogs and sites that post pictures and tell 'stories'; the kind of site that carries 'not for workplace' notices and all.

So, two days without my blogs. Got it?

When I came back, I noticed that I had not missed much. Sure; some comments, some little bit of news which I saw in the paper already, a few (ahem) pictures and stories.

But two days did not really interrupt. I didn't need to go back and catch up. I was still very close to where I had left and could easily extrapolate.

This is not unlike the daily serial shows on television; the soap operas.

When I was a kid, my mother worked and I was put up with my aunts and cousins and they all listened to their 'stories' on the radio. They didn't call them soap operas. It had true ownership; their stories.

As I toured the relative's homes, I noticed that, as I went to Thelma's this week for a couple of days and then went to Bernice's for another few and then back to Thelma's, the stories on the radio seemed to remain the same. I had not missed much.

Could it be that blogs are the new soaps?

Are my blogs much different in their way from Thelma and Bernice's stories?

Blogs, of course, are not about the scandalous goings on in a family or a little town or a hospital or whatever. But they are scandalous. They have the inside story, the rumors, the conspiracy theories; an inside look into the belly of 'the beast'. This stuff isn't going to make to the mainstream until it is cleaned up, sanitized and (for chrissake) verified!

And the racy stuff—well let's say it outright—the erotic and pornographic pictures and stories—are all variations on the same timeless themes; always, dependably, the same; never boring. Just like the soaps!

Maybe blog reading and cruising the net, so to speak, are all just time wasters or background noise to daily life. Just like the soaps.

Maybe the blogs are an escape from the humdrum of our daily life; others playing out our own fantasies. Perhaps bush bashing is just an outlet for our general hostility.

You can see that I have put some distance here between me and such speculation. The use of the 'we' keeps it out there.

I think I could go on with this analogy and make some interesting headway.

Unfortunately, this is biting into my reading of the morning news and blogs.

The pictures and stories don't come until the last. But if I don't eat my daily ration of serious blogs, I don't get any dessert.