Don’t get your panties in a twist and keep your shirt on for crying out loud. I don’t mean that kind of naked. It was more metaphor than literal. You know, like the naked truth or the naked city (of which there are apparently 10,000,000 stories)?
I started thinking about this because recently a friend of mine had mentioned they’d been reading my blog as a way of ‘keeping up’ with me and what was going on in my life. And they said, quote, “I really admire what you do there, you’ve got to have a pair of big brass ones to what you do.” Meaning I guess putting it all out there for the world to see. It gave me pause because I don’t really think that I do have a pair of ‘big brass ones’ I am just you know, me. She says with a bit of a confused look on her face. So the concept that someone would read my blog and think I was bearing my soul? Revealing myself? Something like that made me wonder if it was too much. I mean, really who wants to know the inner workings of Writer Chick, after all? I’m not famous, have never done anything heroic or stupid enough to land in the newspapers and I get no special treatment at the local Starbuck’s so what’s to see here?
But it also got me wondering about the rest of you guys. Are you laying it all out there? Is that really why we blog and what we’re doing here? And if so, how come? Scarcity of friends, or people who care to know or does it have something to do with self expression, some need to put it all out there to see what will happen? I really don’t know, do you?
In my case, I don’t really think I’m being all that revelatory – most of the things that I discuss I would discuss with someone in a conversation – you guys certainly don’t know anything about the color of my underwear, how often I shave, my sex life, my love life, or any direct information about my soft underbelly. Though I have shared hopes and dreams, they in my opinion are common among people and none of mine are any big secret. But I will say I strive to be honest about whatever writing about, whether it’s an incident in my life or an opinion on current events. That is something I’ve done on this blog and have aspired to do, to find that honest place from which to communicate. I think we all look for it, want it, hope for it and use when we can find it. Maybe it’s a writer thing that desire to put honesty in what you write, no matter how trivial or important. I really don’t know. But I don’t regret one word, one comma or one post. It is what it is.
Still, I’d like to know about you guys. Are you all laying it out there? Are we really swinging our big brass ones when we blog? Should we be? Does it matter? Would you rather be baking Evyl’s cookies?
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 
What I write on my blog I would say in front of my very closest friends. If I started a convo with one of the mother’s at my daughters cheerleading team, for instance, no- I wouldn’t tell her how horny I am (btw, I’m sooooo horny tonight LOL), or what my favorite position is… never! So, I write for me, but through reading other people’s blogs I found out that it was ok to be me, if someone doesn’t like it, they can go else where. I do lay it all out there. Sometimes I wonder why to? I really lay it out there. The good, the bad, and the ugly- sometimes all in one post 😉
I am not a “writer” such as yourself though. So, you examine so much more here. Your posts are about society, politics, theories, reading, books, remembrance, gardening, nature, I could go on forever.. where mine seems to be very personal- self centered much? Ha! Ha! Ha!
I do lay it all out there. Sometimes I wonder if that’s right? I’m going to roll with it, it feels right.
Oh, btw, very disturbing picture with this post. WHOAH NELLIE! Annie, is that another picture of yOU??? Heeee-heeee-heeee!
javaqueen14´s last blog post..What is love?
Hey Bella my sweet,
I think I would call you a ‘naked blogger’ cuz you really do lay it all out there. Much more than me, I think. I admire that because it’s not easy to go there sometimes. You’re one honest blogger, yup, you really are.
No, that is not a pic of me, wise-ass. LOL. I’m not that buff. 😆
Annie
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Hey Hey Hey Annieo.
Great post, I blog naked in all respects, I really like it when I blog with out clothes on. hehe!! I’ve been in the newspapers and I have special treatment in Costa Cafe. Smiling.
Like you I don’t regret a single post or word that I have written, I would say all the words to if I had to speak them. Its easy to write them but a bit risky if you just let your fingers dance the words and don’t think the words. I don’t think the words. I dance them.
My blog is like I’m talking to a specail friend, I’ve even been in theropy within some of my posts. I’m very very revealing and I’m very exposed, gald to be and glad you are dear Annie.
My friends can’t believe what I write about. I think I’m admirerd for it.
Love & Exposure
Di.
Thank you for this post
Mucho loveo
Annieo
Hey hey di-di,
Oh yeah, you definitely be a naked blogger – more than anyone I know.And I think it’s what drew me to you. Your honesty and willingness to just say whatever you thought about anything. Most people dont give that kind of honesty – unbridled and unabbridged. It’s what makes you so delightfully you. Never change my dear, you are an original.
Love
Annie
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When I look back at my original intent, I intended to put it all out there, however like you, I don’t believe I reveal all that much about my personal self. This is an environment that does lend it self to being very honest because there is a certain anonymity that is provided, however at the end of the day I don’t believe I have revealed very much about myself and like you what I write is what I would be willing to discuss and often do with those in my life.
Mark´s last blog post..Genius in Awareness
Hey Mark,
Thanks for this. Perhaps you and I do have a similar approach – I think it’s less about being personal and perhaps more about being open to deep communication and wanting to encourage that. Don’t you think?
Annie
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I once wrote a entry where I described the stripping of my skin and muscle and writing as a skeleton with tendons snapping my bones into place. It’s an accurate description.
I treat my writing like an experience. I should feel passion when I write what I write. I should feel flustered and embarrassed sometimes.
I’m a skeleton blogger, I suppose.
Matthew Dryden´s last blog post..Stepping On Skipping Stones
Wow, talk about getting down to basics. 😉
WC
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I think sometimes people start blogs as a way to make themselves feel better about who they are – they may exaggerate their lives, adventures, and popularity in real life as a way to receive some kind of confirmation or camaraderie from people (even thought they don’t know them).
The one thing that’s nice about my blog is that I have a lot of readers who also know me in real life, and that keeps me completely honest about what I write. And I think that’s a good thing.
MJ´s last blog post..Wedding Traditions
Hey MJ,
I do think there are those bloggers out there that do what you say – but by and large I don’t have much contact with them. I think for the most part, no matter what form a blog may take, most bloggers are about communication and propagating that. I too, have a large faction of friends who read my blog and yeah, they do keep you honest. That’s a good thing, eh?
Annie
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Oh Annie, Your so sweet saying don’t ever change, I always think I should do.
I’m smiling,I’ve been in the newspaper a few times a good few years ago – not for great things dear.
BUT !
Check this out. My daughter now works in a Costa Coffee Cafe and my new perk to my life is I get coffee free because I’m her mother. How lucky am I. Coffee is my love alongside fags and I get it free now. I hope she stays for a while in this job. Its great and saves me a small fortune. I can visit my daughter in work and drink free coffee, I can’t think of anything better. I’m lucky. I actually think I’ve gone on to you lucky post here. Hehe!!
‘unbridled and unabbridged’. Oh my goodness, I be never to hear those words in me life before. Is that me. Cool, I actually don’t know what the words mean but I think I get their jist. I get your jist Annieo. Me likes your jist and your drewings.
Jists and drewings and always love for dear Annieo
Di
Hey Di,
I mean that – don’t ever change – you’re an original and I’d hate to see that go by the wayside. You’re perfect as you are. I promise.
love
Annie
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I am pretty naked on my blog as far as being honest, without giving away you know, my full name, address, bank account number and such. Some of you may know more about me than others because I’ve come to trust you over time in the blogosphere but as far as my blog goes, I think I write as honestly as I can. Although, there are some things I will not talk about simply because of privacy of innocent parties or because it doesn’t really match the purpose of my blog (my happy place for the most part). 🙂
Hey Teens!
You are one of the most honest bloggers I’ve ever encountered, though so good about protecting the privacy of those in your life. That’s quite the trick to do and you do it so well. You are amazing.
Love
Annie
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Hi Annie,
Yes I am. Blogging naked in both the way you explain and in the literal sense. Heck, the dogs don’t seem to mind and, as long as I’m careful about letting the cats jump on my lap, there’s no harm.
In the philosophical sense, who else do you know who has made a video clip of Al Gore with a rocket shoved up his rump flying around the world? Or writes theme songs for the Wall Street bailout? Or posts any of the other weird experimental crap I do? It’s all naked me, luv (and I mean that in the British odd way just for verbal flare.)
Truly, I get up every morning and, over that first giant mug of coffee, sit in the dark soaking in the breaking news and ponder just how far I should push things today. Then, before I can make a decision on just what is an acceptable level of strangeness, I get distracted thinking about how often you shave, your sex life, and the color of your underwear. You really know how to make life hard on a fellow 🙂
the Grit
the Grit´s last blog post..Political Thought II
Hey Grit,
Now, you of all people I do believe literally and figuratively blogs naked. I’m glad the cats have learned how to effect a gentle landing for your sake. Sorry, don’t mean to make it hard for anyone’s life – perhaps you need more stimulating topics to focus on, like the next whacky pic Evyl will come up with, eh? 🙂
Annie
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i did. With the personal stuff, i mean. Not so much anymore. i’m too tired emotionally and physically to think about myself like that anymore.
i still do with our Theme Fridays. i think after about a week of engaging people who, for the most part, are difficult to engage, everything pours out of me into my Friday posts.
Hey Chica,
I think we go through phases as writers – sometimes filled to the brim and it pours out of every pore, other times we need to save it up and savor it before we let it go, eh? No matter what you write. You never disappoint.
Hugs
Annie
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I have a friend that reads my blog. He says he likes to read it to keep up with me and my life and what I’m doing. Hmm. Why not just ask me how I am, instead of reading about it. I dont like knowing he “keeps up with me” this way.
Anyhow.
I write whatever I feel like writing that day. You know that the topics on my blog are so severely diverse – you never know what you’re gonna get when you come there. I might talk about my sister and her death and the very thoughts I had as she was put in the ground. Or I may talk about masturbation. Or my shitting schedule. You never know. And I like that.
I share things that I would say to a friend in realife. But I also share things I keep “to myself” because I want to vent to strangers. And yes, I do considers you all friends, but you’re also strangers, ya know.
I dunno, Annie. I write what I write and it just depends on where my mind is.
Hey Babycakes,
Red, I’d have to say I do think of you as a naked blogger, and I mean that in the nicest way. You’re much more brave than I am and it’s one of the many things I admire about you.
Hugs,
Annie
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I often veer on the side of TMI, but the fact that I can use a description like “too much information” implies that I recognize some limits and that I might be reluctant to go beyond them.
“Thou shalt not be vulnerable” apparently hasn’t disappeared from my agenda just yet.
CGHill´s last blog post..Get on the stick
Yes, you do have a knack with propriety without walling yourself off, CG – quite a talent I might add.
Annie
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hmmmm … i guess i am pretty naked, i mean the thing is that anything i would write on my blog is pretty much anything i would talk about with anyone i know. i’m pretty open that way. that said, being open is a funny thing because there are things that i never discuss here on my blog like my job ~ uh uh no way in anything but the most general i have a cube with a view way. i don’t talk about my son much because he’s 14 and i respect his right to privacy.
sometimes i sit down to write and i have no clue what i’m going to say so i pick a photo and just go ~ sometimes stuff comes out that has been sitting in the back corner cobweb of my mind and as i write it i learn something new about me. sometimes i write to have a conversation with you but sometimes its just a conversation with me.
i think we can be naked without be completely revealing and we can definitely be naked and still not be seen …
darlene´s last blog post..on growing
Spoken like a true stealth naked blogger/writer. Yes, I’m with you. Let it out in an honest way but don’t infringe on the privacy of others.
Annie
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If I can’t be naked about a topic, I just won’t blog about it at all. Any other kind of post would be “fiction,” wouldn’t it?
PiedType´s last blog post..Grandma vs. the Alien: Chapter III
I think you may have a point there, 30. 😉
Annie
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Whoa! You caught me!
In all seriousness, I think that the only type of people who blog completely naked are the ones at the bottom of a sadomasochistic relationship, who are forced by their partners to describe every sexual experience or thought in detail as a form of humility.
It’s human nature to withhold information. I could blog for eternity, and you still probably wouldn’t find me talking about my nine-inch penis, or my inability to hold peaches, or how I don’t believe in god, but I don’t want to be associated with atheist douchebags or agnostic pussies. It’s not who I am, it’s human nature.
Hey DT! Well I’m glad there are some things you keep to yourself. I’m sure most of us just couldn’t deal with the utter adventure your life is. And really you do have to save something for yourself, doncha? 😉
Annie
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Well who wouldn’t rather be baking Evyl’s cookies? 😉 lol
There are some things that will never go on my blog. They are too personal, too raw, too close to the bone to share with just anyone. Then there’s all the stuff that I don’t mind telling just anyone or that I’m enjoying writing down that I’ll be able to look back on later.
I have noticed with my friends and I that have been blogging over the past year is that through our blogs we seem to share the more reflective side of ourselves where we often see the reactionary side in email/phone convo’s.
Bettina´s last blog post..Home-made Projects
Hey Bettina,
Absolutely, who wouldn’t rather be baking those cookies? 😉 Yes, a balance is a good thing and I agree there are certain things you just aren’t going to share with strangers, at least I’m in that category as well. I love your point about the reflective aspect – I think that is really spot on.
Annie
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The Bitch is ALWAYS naked.
And there are ways of being naked without telling all the details of one’s life.
Erm. That sounds judgy but wasn’t meant so. There are a million ways to blog. I’m fascinated by the entire process, this glorious compulsion to dance nakedly in front of strangers. I think it’s wonderful, and the more naked the better.
New Age Bitch´s last blog post..LALALALALA I can’t HEAR YOU!!! Dealing with the voices in your head.
Well howdy n.a.b.,
I love your unabashed attitude toward blogging. You go girl.
WC
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Wow, when I read this post and how your friend likes your blog as a way to keep up with you, I got hit over the head with a frying pan remembering a friend who said the same to me.
I agree with most in that, I am true and honest in what I write, however, there are limits as to the information I will ‘bare’. Some of my thoughts are very naked, yet, are likely conversations I would have with someone over coffee. It really is about discussions and points of view about a topic, and I have no issues sharing my thoughts that way.
My private information though, does stay private because as I’ve been told, I’m a very private person!
Daisy
Daisy´s last blog post..My self-esteem tank
Hey D,
Yes, I’m with – open in viewpoints and exchange of ideas but quiet about the really specific personal things in my life.
Annie
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You could always bake my cookies naked just be careful when getting them out of the oven.
I have places where I hang it all out there more than others. But in different ways. For each part of me there is a different blog. It helps me to keep things seperate but equal.
Evyl´s last blog post..Freak Of The Week: Punishment
Yes…very careful. 😉
I think that’s a wise way to go, equal but separate – it really can work well.
Annie
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Yes. I do blog naked. I moved the story of my life to another blog called Musings of an Old Man. You know, you’ve read some of it. I tell everything to the point one of my distant relatives was doing a search on her grand dad and found his name in my blog and emailed me. I haven’t seen her in years, so it revealed to me how open it is to the world. Someone said I should give psuedo names to my family, but I said it wouldn’t feel right and open. That’s what I wanted, exactly. For family to find the story and read about the life of at least one of their relatives is what I wanted. I hope that doesn’t sound narcissistic, because that isn’t my intention. I just got tired of looking at hyphens on headstones and asking myself what that relative was like.
Jim´s last blog post..What’s Been Happening
Hey Jim,
That is cool that your relative found you that way. So your intent has born out to be a good choice. Well done.
Annie
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Yeah, I have to say that I am a naked blogger. I tell it all, and really, who cares anymore? Live and let live, right? Is there really a thing as too much info when I can open up a magazine and see pictures of a celebrities who-ha? I don’t think so.
The Girl from the Ghetto´s last blog post..My favorite college bands in East Lansing back in the 90s
LOL Girl,
That who-ha point is a good one. Too much information for me….but still. Here’s to naked blogging, eh? 😉
Annie
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most people don’t blog naked, just the rather
superfical info. or stuff, lists and such.
not what really hurts or a problem within we
are grappling with with, very few do that.
Jade´s last blog post..ego
Hey Jade,
I wonder … maybe there are degrees of nakedness? I agree there are a lot who don’t go there and maybe it’s just the circles I travel in, but I seem to encounter quite of few who show quite a bit of skin so to speak.
Annie
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I think voicewise I blog in my professor clothes, but I am not your grandmother s professor. I am trying to think through things, how poetry works and the writer brain and the things in our culture that make me nerd hard. I put it all out there to look at the moving parts. Also, I think writing can be lonely and the blogosphere gives us a kindred community.
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Hey there. Wow, you dug up an old one to read. LOL.
I love to hear about how bloggers approach their blogs and why. The Internet to me is this wild west of a neighborhood and you just never know who’s going to move in next door.
You’re right, writing is lonely/solitary and there is kinship in meeting and exchanging ideas with other writers. And I just love that.
Annie
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