Are you going to make me jump through this computer and kick your ass? Because here is the deal: you are a great writer. All of us are great writers. Some people write for a living and their blog reflects that. Some people write emotionally and their entries are raw. Some people write rationally and present their take on news articles. Some people chronicle a year in the life. Some people present their world in photographs.
The idea of the creme de la creme is not to put out there "the best" by someone else's definition of "best." It's to put out the entry that means the most to you: the one that sums up a moment in time you want to remember forever, the one that shows us a sliver of who you are (as Manuela pointed out today about her post titled Tattoo), the one that changed another person's point-of-view, or the one that served as a turning point in your own journey.
Everyone has a best entry from 2006. It's the one you would cry about if it was ever eaten by your computer.
Don't get hung up on the idea of blogs being "well-written" or entries being worthy of the "best" title. I promise you, if you're in my side bar (and even if you're not yet in my side bar because I haven't found your blog yet), your writing is enjoyable and emotional and I have learned a great deal from reading your words (oh, and if for some reason you're not in my side bar, let me know so I can add you).
If you've experienced infertility or pregnancy loss and written about it in your blog, you have an entry to contribute to the list. Send me your crying-on-the-bathroom-floor-after-a-negative posts. Your call from your RE with your first positive beta post. Your holy-fuck-why-didn't-they-tell-me-that-HSG-hurt-so-much post. The day you received your referral. The day you were jealous of your surrogate. The day you wanted to marry your RE. The day you thought you'd never make it to the other side of infertility. The day you really mourned that loss and felt catharsis. The day you realized you had never mourned your losses. The day you came out to everyone about your infertility. The fight with your MIL. The fight with your husband or wife. The reason your husband or wife is the best person to have with you on this journey. The frustration you felt with yourself for feeling overwhelmed after your child was born. The sadness you felt over past losses when you held your newborn child.
Any messy, wonderful entry.
Whether you're in the middle of treatments or finally pregnant or parenting your twins conceived through IVF.
Of course you can nominate others too. The entry you read that changed the way you viewed your own journey. The entry that helped you get through the day. Send them on over.
And here's the idea behind this "best of" collection: it's just another way you introduce someone to your blog. To give them a little taste of that world. This post will be on the side bar for the entire year (until we make a new list next year) and people can read down each entry, taking their time to savour all of these incredible posts. It's a monument to what a sliver of the infertile world was experiencing in 2006.
So spread the word about this list and gather entries from your favourite blogs too. I'm compiling it as links are sent either via comment or email (and just so you know, many people are sending it via email so feel free to send it directly to thetowncriers@gmail.com). It will be up this Friday.
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Updated at 4:58 p.m.
I moved around icons and links on the side bar to make room for the new Creme de la Creme icon and listing. The picture is currently linked to today's post, but I'll link it to the actual list come Friday.
Keep sending them in! I have about 25 already listed in Friday's post. But there are hundreds of blogs on my side bar. Spread the word and nominate links that changed the way you view the world (if it's someone else's blog) or that you loved writing (if it's your blog).
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
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16 comments:
ok ok you twisted my arm.
i have a few entries I like...but here is one
http://destinedtobeamom.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-hopes-for-madelyn.html
I wish I had something for you as I think this is a wonderful idea. Instead I will be looking forward to the final list.
I'm posting this entry anonymously because I am not so totally sure the author wants to publicity, but it is such a wonderful bit of writing...
Halfway There
Melissa... chuckle... I wrote a silly new post about shoes and cats and that's what's currently up on my blog. Can we change your hyperlink to the tattoo post??
http://manuela.blogs.com/thin_pink_line/2006/12/tattoo.html
Thanks!
The threat of you coming to kick my ass worked. So here you go. But I think I like this post most for the title, not the content.
http://crazyenoughtotry.blogspot.com/2006/12/chainsaws-and-butter-knives.html
Ok here we go
This helped me, even if it only did make my laugh.
sweetvee.blogspot.com/2006/03/comebacks.html
Nah, nah. You don't scare me Mel!! I don't have anything personally to contribute, but I may nominate a couple of other posts that made a difference for me. I wish I wrote well enough, or emotionally enough, or well, anything enough.... but my boring blog, bores me so much I can hardly write in it.....
K
ok, you're such a bully. I've only been in this blogging biz for a couple months now. But here is the one that I think about the most:
http://whatifthis.blogspot.com/2006/11/on-injury-and-loss.html
It was inspired by a post you wrote about different kinds of loss. Good news is I'm feeling better than I was when I wrote this. But maybe that's because I've got more distance from the pain.
This is my favorite. It's from the time before we were beaten down by every imaginable delay. God, I sounded hopefull then.
http://chasingchina.blogspot.com/2006/01/over-first-hurdle.html
And as for nominating others...everything Karen at TNO ever wrote.
I'm a little hesitant to post, since I didn't start blogging until I became pregnant, so pregnancy is mentioned in what I consider my post that best sums up this past year: You want answers... This is the post where I "came out" as an infertile and gave specifics about how we became pregnant. It's the one that I received the most emails thanking me for my honesty, though re-reading it, it comes off as bitter and defensive. Then again, that kind of describes my 2006 - extremely grateful to be pregnant, but still bitter and defensive about being infertile.
Anonymous Infertile, is that where you went? I've been wondering! Good to know that you're around, though!
Hmmn, I guess I would be sad if my computer accidentally deleted my "happiest infertile on the blog" post, so I guess I'll submit that. Great idea!
http://smarshyboy.blogspot.com/2006/09/happiest-infertile-on-block.html
Great idea!
I've probably written more eloquent, more meaningful posts, but this post, about doing my very first injection, is one I wish someone else had written, so I'd have known I wasn't the only wimp in the world:
http://citygirltales.blogspot.com/2006/05/stick-it.html
Honestly, the post that sums up 2006 for me is the last one I wrote.
My B'shert was an idea that I got from you...thanks!
OK, after a lot of thought, I'd narrowed it down to three.
But since I can only pick one, I've decided on How I'm feeling.
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