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| Bags aplenty in Talad Phlu |
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| Cart-dining, subdued at night |
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| A gift-wrappng shop |
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| Temple in Talad Phlu |
Most blogs written by foreigners in Thailand fall into that category.
I need only glance at the sidebar of a typical blog to tell me how me about the author’s experience of the place.
If the author posts links to the local English-language papers, and other helpful ‘resources’ for the foreigner finding his way around, I know he’s still painfully new.
As the blog author spends longer here, his stuff becomes more esoteric. He develops his own interests.
I seldom provide travelogue accounts of anything. I write about common, everyday stuff, like a walk to the market with the boyfriend.
The Thai stuff is almost incidental. I can write like that, because I've been here a while.
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| Streetside in Talad Phlu...want a travelogue? |
Until recently, posts about life with the boyfriend (the most popular ones) attracted an average of eight to 10 responses each. Now, hardly anyone comments. What happened?
My lengthy battle with Anon the Shrink might have put readers off commenting.
I am also happier with the boyfriend these days, which might have put some readers off.
If I wrote more about my problems with him, readers might be more inclined to comment. Readers like to offer advice. And I don’t mind getting it, as long as it’s polite.
Most good stories have a start, middle and ending. This one has a start and a middle. I can't provide the ending, as that's up to you. So, what about it?
9 comments:
ReplyDeletelyn29 September 2009 at 21:17
"Today I visited a temple (not)"
Love the title, it gave me a good laugh.
"Until recently, posts about life with the boyfriend (the most popular ones) attracted an average of eight to 10 responses each. Now, hardly anyone comments. What happened?"
Two words, instant gratification. Don't moderate, moderate after the fact. People want to see their comments instantly, not wait to see whether you will accept or not. You get this 'high' of seeing your work (comments) and waiting for others to response to it.
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BODYholic30 September 2009 at 06:56
Ditto. Was excited, for a minute, after reading the blog title. lol
Not a (devoted?) Buddhist here but love Thai temples.
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Anonymous1 October 2009 at 06:42
For me, I stop by to read your writing style, which is unique when you're mellow, sort of deadpan with the occasional Seinfeldesque observation. You lose me when you go off on a tirade, which you were doing quite frequently a while back, mostly when you got comments from anonymous, and also this crazy stuff about the coming out brigade or whatever. You came off as really bitter and unpleasant. We've all grappled with the coming out issue, but for 99 percent of us it's weighing the pros and cons of the decision and then coming out or not as the case may be. But your decisionmaking seems to be obsessed with this supposed peer pressure to come out, rather than internal factors. For me and I'm pretty sure the large majority of gays, peer pressure by the "gay community" had nothing to do with our decision to come out, we did it if it made our life better, and didn't if it didn't. So I avoided your blog after the week or so where you went off on this weird direction, but have come back recently and you seem to have returned to your mellow style, which is a much more interesting read. I hope this doesn't set you off again, and keep up the good writing, Seth
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Bkkdreamer1 October 2009 at 17:29
No, Seth, it hasn't set me off again. Sometimes I don't know how my stuff comes across...I tend to be blunt, even in person, which in the context of arguing a point might come across as a tirade.
I have never felt under any peer pressure to come out. What I do worry abut is how others might feel if confronted by the strident exhortations of those who have already declared themselves out to the world.
They write as if it is the only option possible for enlightened living, which makes me feel sorry for the rest (the majority), who might be quite happy with their lives as they are. No one likes to think he is leading such a benighted existence.
I also worry about how family members are supposed to react when confronted by the news.
But that's it; those are just my views. Welcome back to the blog. I will to keep future tirades to a minimum!
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Anonymous2 October 2009 at 07:54
l must admit, lt's much nicer seeing my comment instantly. ;) lt feels more personal somehow!!!
Wilko x
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Bkkdreamer2 October 2009 at 19:47
Lyn: Thank you, dearest. You give good advice.
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Ray Pinkerton5 October 2009 at 05:50
I agree that having the filter off is better for your blog. If there is anything that offends you can go back later and delete i.
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Bkkdreamer5 October 2009 at 19:07
You are right, Ray. I was killing my own blog by keeping that moderating filter on so long. The flow of comments dried up. Hopefully they will now come back, as I miss hearing from readers.
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Kevo337 October 2009 at 18:48
I'm sorry i havnt been keeping up. Life is quite complicated these days. The economy is getting harder to keep up with around here.
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