Tuesday, February 12, 2008

title*

I'm not exactly feeling energetic today, so instead of an actual post, I'm giving you my handy, all-purpose template for generating posts. Think of it as Niobe lite: the same great taste, but only half the calories.


Opening sentence, including litotes. First heartrending childhood memory. Second heartrending childhood memory. Five enigmatic lines of conversation. Sentence sharply qualifying the opening statement. A meandering sentence beginning with "perhaps" and ending with "at least, as I see it."

Introductory sentence raising the second topic. Sentence with parallel structure and some big words. Allusion to Greek mythology. Self-deprecating remark. Reference to childhood memories cited above. A line and a half from a poem by Frost.

Question for the reader.



*Some facts I discovered on the internets and included in the footnote despite the fact that they are, at best, only tangentially related. With a link.

22 comments:

Maggie said...

So that's how you do it! :)

I should take notes...I usually just find myself staring blankly at the screen. Then I slap up a picture of something or other...

Tash said...

Dammit, I was hoping for a link to some cute kittens.

Julia said...

bwahaha.
And now I am really tempted to set up the www.youdidntthinkthiswouldreallylinkanywheredidyou.com domain. And to populate it with Robert Frost poems. Or, perhaps, nutritional content of various caffeinated beverages.
But in reality I am, of course, way too lazy to bother.

Dr. Grumbles said...

Loved the link!

S said...

Oh, that is awesome. Talk about knowing thyself!

xxoo

Casey said...

Hee hee. Heeheeheehee.

I am way too amused by this post.

Aurelia said...

oh, I needed to laugh today. thank you!

As you know, I just tend to blather on until I get somewhere, and sometimes, I get nowhere.

I do like that link. We should buy that domain and fill it with nothing.

loribeth said...

Bwahahaha!!! (from someone who has a Robert Frost quotation in the sidebar at the top of her blog) (insert red-faced icon here...!) ; )

Mrs. Collins said...

I wish mine had a structure. Mine is the stream of unconscious variety.

And the link is nice. I'll have to link to that too.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

HA! This is exactly the formula I used when I took up the "Write a Niobe Post" challenge last Fall.

(BTW, you still owe me the return favor.)

And, www.yesIdidthinkthelinkwouldgosomewhereinterestingbecauseIhavecometotrustyou.com

You're so dang clever!

Anonymous said...

Hah! This is funny. Funny, funny stuff. Oh! This is also the first time I have EVER posted a comment to you, although I have been reading your blog obsessively for months.

M said...

*snort*

you're funny...

luna said...

see, and it's still entertaining. ~luna

Anonymous said...

Bethany at the lunch table
Fitting in is not always easy. In sixth grade, I made an attempt to sit at a more popular group's table one day. I was friends with one of them and wanted to get to know the others. Later that day, Bethany came up to me and in a joking voice said, "We don't like you sitting at our table. Just kidding!" I never sat with them again.

In some way, blogs feels like a place where we can remake your Jr. high or middle school years. You can be supportive. You can share secrets without being exposed. You can sit at different tables without fear. You can walk the halls freely. You have the chance to finally be accepted. Perhaps we all need to remake our adolescence to come to terms with our adulthood. At least, that's the way I see it.

Blogging has affected my sense belonging. It has reconfigurated and sometimes reinforced feelings of adolescent angst. Blogging seems to be a sisyphistic journey in a sense. Will I ever recover from Bethany's remarks?
"I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes unwilling to explain."
Maybe by blogging, we can look up.

How has blogging affected your sense of belonging ?

Angela said...

Loves it.

I'm so pleased that you're aware of all this! =)

Anonymous said...

Niobe, you are too much :) And yet, this is why I keep coming back. You are an incredible writer -- amusing, thought-provoking, unique.

K @ ourboxofrain said...

I always love your posts, but this is now one of my all time favorites.

Magpie said...

Gosh. I had no idea there was a formula.

Clementine said...

Ha! I love it.

Anonymous said...

Sentence complimenting the post. Sentence talking about my own life experiences. Sentence with lots of exclamation points!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Greeting. Assvice. Lame attempt at humour. Farewell involving emoticons.

beagle said...

And still, you've said more than so many posts out there that claim to be actual posts.

Now that is great blogging!