Thursday, October 09, 2008

When Family Members Find Out You Blog

Earlier this week, I got to mix a work trip with spending time with family I don't often see. It was a serendipitous kind of thing where our office was only able to afford sending me to the statewide conference for the program I work because I could stay overnight with family.

Monday, I went from listening to doom and gloom about how Wall Street could end up affecting everything in our program to my cousin, Karen, joking about how dinner's discussion would be about how Aunt Stella survived the Depression and how we, too, could survive whatever was around the corner. When my aunt asked her to find a bigger pot for the corn on the cob, she brought up a white pot that had been used for canning,

"Well, maybe we should just keep this up here because canning will be useful when we all have to start growing our little gardens in order to have food to eat," she suggested.

It was just the kind of cynical humor I needed.

Discussions switched to technology and how blogging has become more the norm within the industry, whichever one you want to talk about, than ever. I mentioned that I even have my Twitter updates appear on the sidebar of my blog. Karen looked a little surprised, "You blog?"

"Yes. I have for, let me think, over seven years now," I answered.

I could see and hear the wheels turning in Karen's head. How did the fact that I've had a blog manage to escape her purview? And why hadn't I shared this fact before?

I knew this would happen one day. The day you find out all your wibblings about life, sex, and your deep love for Morrissey, Wegmans, and chick lit have been found by your family. This happened to my dad a few years ago. I think he had a quick look around and hasn't come back for fear I might make his head explode.

Sharing the link to my blog with Karen is a bit different though. She's always been the cool cousin out in Albany who was able to build a successful career in radio news. I shadowed her in 1999 for a couple days when Governor Pataki was inaugurated for his second term. The short time I spent with her solidified my interest in radio news and we also got to talk about relationships, movies, music, books, and other assorted bits. That, and she knew all the words to Bran Van 3000's "Drinking In L.A." I told you she's cool. You can guess that I'm a bit shy about sharing something I've sometimes cavalierly kept up for years, but I do try to share when asked, so this is the welcome post for Karen. Enjoy!

3 comments:

battlemaiden said...

I still can't believe that the Karen I hear twice a day on NPR is your cousin. That's SO cool!

Galoot said...

Cousins in Albany rule! I went to a conference in April (stayed at the hotel) and visited my cousin George. I looked up to him as a pretty good mountain biker. Did you take the train? Business class tickets are fairly inexpensive and cost less than mileage reimbursement. Plus you can listen to your IPod all the live long day...

Julia said...

Galoot - We discovered the inexpensive train option too late in the game to do it. Instead, I drove myself and my boss out to Schenectady. While the mileage is a big cost for our office, I admit I'm looking forward to that check.

Post a Comment

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...