I was watching Criminal Minds last week and they ended the episode with this quote from Cyril Connolly, “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” I’ve been thinking about that a lot. It seems a little extreme in terms of a basic Choice A v/s Choice B concept. But I’m sure we can all admit that the best situation is to write for the public and maintain your concept of self. I think that’s what blogging gives a lot of us. When the act of writing itself only costs you time and minimal amounts of money (depending on your platform/hosting choices); then being forced to write for the public to achieve (or possibly maintain) some sort of financial success does not usually happen. But it did get me thinking about the choices in a more theoretical sense.

We all have our own boundaries as writers. Things we’ll talk about and things we won’t. I have no problem discussing my reproductive cycle, but I won’t talk about my divorce. I have no problem complaining about the state of my boobs, but I’m not going to bitch about real people in any way that could hurt them if they stumble upon my words. (And I assume everyone will eventually stumble upon my words, it’s the safest mentality.) Some people don’t talk about or post photos of their kids at all, while that is about 80% of what I do around here.

To me…those boundaries still allow me to reveal myself to my audience while still giving me some sort of creative outlet. But some people feel like that setting limits on what they can/can’t write about cramps their creativity. If they can’t talk about how much they hate their sister’s husband because it will hurt someone’s feelings – especially if that’s what is in their mind to write about – then what’s the point? If you can’t reveal your whole self and your whole life…then some people feel as though they’re lying to their audience.

It’s an interesting thing to think about. I think every blogger is different. I like the idea of documenting my life in a lighthearted and kind way. I get bitchy and angry enough day-to-day, I don’t feel like I need to write with that same tone every day. But some of my favorite bloggers use their blogs as outlets for their irritation and misery. And I sometimes envy that. Then there’s the big things that happen in my life that I can’t/won’t really talk about. Sometimes I feel like I am misleading people, but I’m also trying to protect the people in my real life. How do you bring those two things together? I’m sure LilZ wouldn’t mind me telling you that we fight often. I mean, we have an astounding relationship for a Mother/Teen, don’t get me wrong. But I worry that sometimes I don’t paint a very real picture of how things work when I just show you snapshots of trips to see Santa. It’s not always that easy. But our clashes are one of the many things I feel like are too sacred to be blogged about, and that won’t ever change.

So — what are your boundaries as a blogger? As a writer, do you feel like the limits your creativity or challenges it? In terms of your “self” – do you feel like abiding by these boundaries may give a distorted view of yourself to your audience? How do you feel about that?

We’re halfway through November and I’ve posted every day as per National Blog Posting Month requirements. Considering I failed in the first week last year, this is quite an accomplishment. Especially if you factor in the insane weekend we’ve had of photo sessions, birthday parties, fundraisers, half-marathons and Santa visits. Yes, I said Santa. Our Botanical Gardens offers a walk-thru for members of their Galaxy of Lights before they open to the public and tonight was the last night to take part. At the end of the mile-plus stroll you get to hang out with a very sweet Santa.

I was worried AndyZ was going to have nothing to do with it as he witnessed a kid scream bloody murder a few families in front of ours. He watched the kid scream the second he was placed in Santa’s lap and then AndyZ turned to me, pointed and said, “Uh Oh! Uh Oh! Uh Oh!” Like, Hey…Mom! That kid is being tortured by the man with the beard! SAVE HIM! Then, lucky for us, the family right before ours had a kid who thought Santa was the bee’s knees and he smiled uncontrollably the entire time. This put AndyZ a bit more at ease. Then, seeing his sister run to the bearded guy in red? That did it. He was going to at least check out the situation. Even if he wasn’t going to smile.

Santa even managed to talk a certain teenager into joining the photo op!

All in all, it was a pretty excellent weekend. Even if it was a bit exhausting.

The other day someone asked me if AndyZ’s eyes allow him to get away with murder. “That’s an understatement,” I told her.

P.S. This is not cheating on the whole NaBloPoMo thing because it is my second entry of the day. The first one had, you know, lotsa’ words.

It’s November and you know what that means, don’t you? It’s National Blog Posting Month! Say it with me “This Is Sparta!” style…NaBloPoMo! This is the blogger response to National Novel Writing Month which is also during November. I believe the first year was 2006 if my entry here can be trusted and I know I’ve attempted it every year, but my category list indicates I was not successful in 2008. (Why would I add years to those NaBloPoMo category titles just to spotlight my failure? AM DUMB.) I am determined to be successful in 2009 as I’ve got a big fundraising/giveaway launch coming tomorrow…there’s the motivation right there!

But today? Is a Sunday. And Sundays are hard for any of us to remember to post in general…so I’m trying to spread the word early this morning to hopefully remind people to start. It’s always a great month in blogdome and I hope you join in. And also? My kid does not understand the time change and woke me up FOR THE DAY at 4:15am. Since I can’t trust the dogs to babysit him without charging me, I’m up and needing things to keep me entertained so I won’t hunt down some of the gypsies that came to my door asking for candy last night.

Speaking of last night…we gave out 600 pieces of candy. Now, MrZ gave out 2 at a time when we were out trick-or-treating, but NikkiZ (who loves handing out candy most of all) gave out one piece to each kid. And then we ran out. Like we do every year. So, we ran out after we handed out candy to AT LEAST 300 trick-or-treaters. I am not exaggerating when I tell you my street is the most AWESOME HALLOWEEN STREET EVER. We love it and when we finally get our asses in gear to sell the house and move? We will probably still come back for Halloween. People drop off their kids on our street, it’s so awesome. There are a few houses that go all out with decorations and then there is one that even has a Haunted House every year. It’s pretty insane. No one quite gets it until they come over and see it for themselves. Let’s put it this way – after we went around the street once, we sat outside for almost 2 hours handing out candy. There’s no point in staying inside because the traffic is too consistent until at least 9pm. INSANITY!

On top of the Halloween Parade at school on Friday, we also went a few in-town events yesterday and we opted to put AndyZ in NikkiZ’s old pumpkin costume (which she never wore because her head was too big) so he wouldn’t get too hot. Hence the wardrobe change in the pictures below. There is also one of MrZ and I in our last-minute costume ideas: Jack and Kate from Lost. We went to our first ever costume party Friday and it was tons of fun. So…let the Halloween Pictures start off NaBloPoMo with a bang!

Captain Hammer: Even Cheesy During Story Time