blog friendship
Just a quickie to thank everyone for the very touching support comments on my last post. At first I couldn't sleep or eat but in the past few days that's all I've done! Hav- ing this outlet was really helpful for me but today's the day I get my life back on track. But first, because Heather's written about this very topic (internet friendship) and it was just published in Cahoots, I wanted to share it. The art (Dinah knows my taste well) is from here.Thanks guys.
posted by andrea at 7:20 a.m.
31 Comments:
Heather's article for Cahoots is spot on! I've met a few of my blog friends in person and I was so nervous beforehand.
Yes, blogging, as I've noted before, is a friendly meeting-place.
Sometimes, all that's needed is a little comment starch to stiffen our resolve.
Welcome back!
You are a very strong woman and I can only imagine the gamut of emotions you have been through lately. It is a life changing time and you can mourn as long as you need and we are all 100% behind you! Even though we have never met and we have not been as bloggy lately as in the past I was so moved and filled with heart-felt sorrow for you and Zappa. Your post was so beautiful and touched me deeply. I know you will move through this time as gracefully as you have written about it. (I was right in the middle of writing this and my computer turned off!) i hope you get this message. Is this artist Greek? Very cool stuff!
Val: Russian I presume. Dinah? Do you know?
Glad to see you back on the blog :-) You have been on my mind. This illustration is facsinating... What do you think it is? Paint? Scratch board? Magic? I love the skull ones too.
I've met a handful of blogging friends, and what delighted me is how true to who they were to what they wrote about. All good experiences, and there are more I'd love to meet -- like you, for example. I too cherish my blog contacts.
I am so glad you're feeling a bit better. It's a tough one.
To answer Val: the site is in Russian, but I only speak a few words so would need Babelfish (or something) to translate.Did you all look at those cute dolls, too, as well as the "X-ray" pieces?
I have many blogging friends, some I have met(your first comment above, Cynthia, is one of them I met last summer!) and even a few that are now close personal friends in my "real" life since they have since moved into studios in the same building! I still remember the first online friend I met on Wetcanvas in person almost 10 years ago! I used to get freaked out by meeting someone I had first met online, but now it just makes first meetings in person that much easier. It is hard for me to make new friends in person, but with the internet it is so much easier to "meet" people, especially with blogging!
I'm happy to hear you are moving forward from your grief. It took me a few weeks until I didn't think of Yoda everyday. I still hear him every once in awhile. It gets easier with time as I'm sure you know.
I just came across this quote on Jon Katz's website
(www.bedlamfarm.com) and thought it probably applies to you and Zappa...
“People who love dogs often talk about a ‘lifetime’ dog. I’d heard the phrase a dozen times before I came to recognize its significance. Lifetime dogs are dogs we love in especially powerful, sometimes inexplicable ways.”
So sorry, Andrea, to hear about Zappa. I was in disbelief at first when I read it. How can this be? You have made a beautiful tribute to Zappa, and I was touched greatly. Phanny is gone now too. I have kept my grief private. But now that we are home again, it all comes back. I could almost disregard it for a couple of weeks, being gone, but now the house is empty. Soo soo sorry to have to hear about Zappa. He was so lucky to have had you. You are in my thoughts.
Thank you for sharing your grief and anger and love of a wonderful creature with us. I have been there with two beloved dogs (one who also had advanced cancer with no symptoms but managed to go running with me just days before she died). It sounds weird but it was much easier when my old cat died because it was gradual and I had many months to say goodbye before the end. I'm sure that Zappa is now in doggie heaven, herding sheep, chasing squirrels and sleeping on comfy clouds looking down on you and thanking you for the wonderful life you gave him.
It's a pleasure and a privilege, Andrea. And goes to prove that the Internet can be a beautiful place.
Hello Andrea - sending you some hugs of blog friendship - sorry I've not been around much in the last year - but I do seem to be back now.
(hugs)
See, Caroline's back!
Great to have you as a blogfriend, Andrea.
Thanks for those links - that articale really speaks to what is so wonderful about blogging.
Cynthia: I have, too -- and was also nervous, so I guess that's par for the course.
Dinah: Thanks!
Val: Not only did I get it but it kept on appearing in my inbox. Ghost in the machine stuff! (and give Rat a hug for me...)
Ian: Thanks for your great support and I suspect we will meet in the not-too-distant future!
Paula: Did you notice the little things at first? Like how it's supper time but you have no dog to feed? These things keep surfacing unexpectedly for me.
Nadine: I love that quote; it exactly illustrates my feelings. I've been trying to use ration to figure out something that is not even in that realm.
Molly: I thought about you and Phanny when this happened. But this was really different from when I lost Zoe, who was an elderly, failing dog. He was still so young in every other way! I think part of the difference is that it's actually caused me to contemplate my own mortality and that of those humans closest to me who are all young and healthy. It's the "unfairness" that's getting under my skin I guess.
Jana: You wonder how it can happen so fast, don't you? Read my response to Molly re. the difference.
Alda: Thank you -- and I get a little fed up with the cynics who trash the internet as an unsafe, unreal environment.
Caroline: You have your own time schedule and I respect it and admire you for doing your own thing, but it's still nice to hear you're back!
Cream: Guess I'm good for something! :) I always enjoy your blog, too.
CS: Doesn't it? I read it at the exact perfect moment.
Still thinking of you and comforting to know you can turn to us for support. Internet friends are the best.
Having my own Aussie, the passing of Zappa left me heartbroken. I can only imagine what you have been dealing with, I am still here for you in anyway you may need, always.
Like the post on blogging as a social exchange...I value my online friends to no end...and in this crazy world we live in, blogging has been a life saver for me personally.
Be well my friend, I am thinking of you.
You're right Andrea, it is different. You had to watch helplessly, and it all happened so fast. It does make one question one's mortality. What weakness or unwellness lurks in us or the ones we love, ready to strike us down? We can do all the right things, make all the 'right' choices, yet, yet............
All the more reason to cherish each moment, live in the present, be fully present, be here now, be grateful.
And if you feel sad, go ahead and feel it. You can't hold that down. It relieves and leads to healing. I feel sad with you and for you.
I woulda guessed Greek, but I defer to the dynamic Dinahmow...
It's good to see you back, Andrea, and you have emerged with grace and sensitivity, as usual.
We didn't get a chance to meet in 2006, but I sure wish we had. Maybe another time.
I've grown very close to some of my blogger friends and have met a few in person and had email exchanges and deeper relationships with others.
It's a wonderful place, this blogosphere. It's a wonderful life, when you accept what's in it.
I'm glad you're in it.
It's all Greek to WW!
You are fantastic and interesting, and as you can see, loved, appreciated, and admired, by many blogorians.
Mwuah!
Toni: You said it!
HMBT: The thing about Aussies is that they tend to be smarter, kinder and prettier than other breeds, don't they? (Could I possibly be biased?)
Molly: You should be a Buddhist. Your attitude is very zen. I'm with you!
WW: There aren't too many things I know but I *do* know it's not Greek because I can actually read a little Greek. What I'm curious about is whether it's another Slavic language other than Russian as several use the cyrillic alphabet. The chances of you covering the Grey Cup in Vancouver in '08 are slim to none but there's a chance we'll be in Wpg in the summer. If that happens then I will INSIST on a tour of your bathtub and fridge. And a long chat over a bevvy. Please?
HE: Are you all deluded or wot? Seriously, you bloggy friends have kept me sane more than once. Mwuah back!
I am sorry I am a post late, but I am so sorry you lost your dog. They are so special to us in our lives, and it seems he was such a loved and happy part of your family. Sending a hug.
Andrea, lovely Andrea:
The Grey Cup isn't in Vancouver this year, it's in Montreal, so the chances of that are slim and none, I'm afraid.
But the chances, if you are in Winnipeg, of you (and family, if they should grace our city) getting the royal treatment are 100 per cent, no doubt.
And if you want to bathe in my bathtub or eat food from my fridge, well you know they will be cleaned and completely up to snuff.
And the long talk over a bevvy, well that would be to my heart's delight.
Just make sure you bring me a print or something...
:-)
Jafabrit: Thnks. Each day is a bit easier.
WW: I was thinking "Hey! I already said slim to none. How could he misread what I meant?" (Even I know that since it was played here in '06 the chances of it being here in '08 are nil.) Then I read what I wrote and d'oh! It sounds like you're grounded, not like it's not here. I hate this language. (Or as I say to my kids, "Listen to what I mean, not what I say." :) If we end up in Manitoba next summer (admittedly it's second choice right now) you will be hailed and asked to fill the tub and fridge.
That's a great article. Having read my first blog only a few months ago, I had no idea there could be so much community in blogging, that's really nice. And a little tale of coincidence - read your blog last night, then went and looked at Etsy's Just Sold list, which I NEVER do and there and behold you pop up right away with a gorgerous landscape just sold. Congrats!
Oops, I meant GORGEOUS, have no idea what 'gorgerous' would look like.
The tub and fridge shall definitely be filled, should you grace us with a visit. What location could trump Manitoba though?
Think of the mosquitoes, the stifling heat, the cankerworms, the horseflies...the 100,000 lakes...
Ellen: How weird! It went to someone local, too, so I can actually deliver it in person.
WW: You're just saying that to tempt me...
Hi Andrea. I've just read about Zappa's death and the deep sadness you've felt. Take care of yourself.
Yes, I am trying to tempt you...
Post a Comment
<< Home