Monday, January 19, 2015

Happy 2015 and a Big Welcome Back to Rue and Her New Blog 'An Old-Fashioned World'!

Happy 2015!  I took a break from blogging over the holidays because I had to get my youngest son, Marc, off to Ballyvaughn, Ireland for his study abroad semester at the Burren College of Art.  After his flight from Chicago was cancelled and rescheduled due to snow storms and his luggage was lost, Marc finally arrived safely in Ballyvaughn on January 9th.  To his surprise and ours, Marc is the only 'lad', as they say in Ireland, out of the class of 25 students.  He has mixed feelings about this state of affairs, but I am confident he will manage.  According to Burren, the girls are doting on him.  Anyway, he is in Ireland through April to focus on building his portfolio.  Hopefully he will not be too distracted by all the attention!  Here are a couple of his early pieces. 

'Bad Teeth', original was a gift to Bunker Roy and is at Barefoot College Dental Clinic in Rajasthan, India.
'Josephine', portrait of a young girl for a family in Paris.

Enough about Marc and his art studies.  What I am really excited to tell you about is the return of one of my favorite bloggers, Rue, to blogland!  Several years ago Rue had a blog called 'Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life.'' 

Rue's blog button from 'Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life'


Rue left blogging for a bit, but has now returned with a new blog 'An Old Fashioned World.' I just love Rue's perspective on life and blogging!  Rue is one of my role models for gracefully navigating the blogosphere, which can be a surprisingly nasty place. 

Last year the New York Times did a good job covering the dark side of blogging in 'When Blogging Becomes a Slog' which highlighted 'Young House Love', the outrageously popular blog by the Petersiks, a husband-and-wife team.  After the birth of their second child, the Petersiks apologized for not writing their regular Thursday post and asked readers how they felt about shorter posts.  Many replies, some from loyal readers, voiced concern about fewer posts and more giveaways.   One blunt comment criticized the Petersiks for using their children as an excuse because the blog makes big bucks.  Although most comments were positive, the couple felt they were letting readers down and stopped blogging in September of 2014 to explore other career options. 

The article pointed out several challenges with full-time blogging, including the Catch-22 of using sponsored content to earn money, but losing readers because they don't trust sponsored posts.  The constant demand for new content is also very stressful.  And turning a hobby into a career usually sucks the joy out of it.

Why do I bring all this up?  Because now you know the reasons I will never be a full-time blogger and also why I have so much admiration and respect for Rue!

Until next time,

Genevieve

P.S.  Melissa Michaels at the 'Inspired Room' is the only full time blogger I know who has successfully managed both blogging and a family.  She is AWESOME!  Definitely check out her blog and her upcoming book!

6 comments:

  1. ...so happy to see both of you back...a home should be a safe place for those who live within its walls...and a blog...especially one concerning home...should be the same...blogland...like life...is full of people...both good and bad...the best thing about blog life?...there is the delete button...blessings laney

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  2. Laney, as always, you say the perfect thing. "...the best thing about blog life?...there is the delete button..." Love, love, love that! Hugs, Genevieve

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  3. Oh my goodness! I can't believe you wrote about me.... I hardly know what to say, except thank you, Genevieve! You are so sweet <3

    I feel bad for that couple. I never read their blog, but I knew who they were. It's so sad that they had to give it up. And people can be so rude! Something is wrong with someone that can pass judgement on another person that they've never even met before. Amazing...

    Good luck to Marc! I'm sure he'll do really well, since he's so talented. Even with a bunch of girls doting on him ;)

    Thank you again!!
    Love, rue

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  4. Hi Rue. It is a joy to sing your praises! I truly admire and respect your blogging skills and flexibility in adapting blogging to your life, rather than the other way around.

    I too felt badly for the 'Young House Love' couple. My sister first introduced me to their blog and I really liked it. But I too have experienced mean judgemental comments and know hurtful they can be. What I have going for me is a 'tough hide' and a 'don't care attitude' about rude comments. As Rhett Butler said in 'Gone with the Wind', frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. LOL. Apologies for the rough language. I also never publish those comments or respond to them. I can usually spot a mean comment in the first few words of the first sentence, at which point I stop reading and delete. Haha!

    And thank you for your kind words about Marc. We shall see how his adventures in Ireland unfold!

    So glad you liked the post. I know it was a surpise. Hugs, Genevieve

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  5. Oh I definitely had my share of mean comments back in the day! LOL Some were downright hurtful and at first I fought back, but then I realized they were angry with themselves and not me at all. So now, if I happen to come across them, I'll just remove them. So far so good ;)

    Oh and no worries about saying 'damn'! I curse like a sailor, but try to keep myself at least on a PG13 level on the blog lol

    xoxo

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  6. Happy 2015....I have missed you as well. Excited to check out Rue's new blog...you were my connection to her PB&J blog.

    How ironic...our two youngest almost overlapped their schedules at the airport. Stephen is doing a J-Term
    in Germany and Norway.

    Mark's work is amazing. What a gift he has.

    Miss you.

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