December 22, 2007

Holidays are Fast Approaching: Duck!

[Written by Crabby]

(Photo from flikr)

So whether or not you celebrate Christmas, it's hard not to notice that everything slows down this time of year. Many of you will be off spending time with family and friends, decking your halls or donning your gay apparel or whatever. Others may not be celebrating Christmas, but instead of Fa-la-la-la-lawing, you might be working double overtime shifts to cover for those who are hangin' with Santa.

In any event, a lot of you won't be here. Things may be reeeeally slow between Christmas and New Years.

So we're going to try to chill too and refrain from writing a bunch of posts and then wondering why no one is reading them. Where is everybody? Don't they like us anymore? What's wrong? Was it something we said?

No, instead we will try to out-smart our own little insecurities and not even write those posts that you're going to not read. Clever, huh? Perhaps we'll take a little time to relax and recharge--so that after the holidays, you can come back to more of the same old shit all kinds of fresh new ideas and fascinating posts about all kinds of things!

However, and this is important, we won't close down entirely between Christmas and New Years! Sometime on Monday we'll let you know what the deal is. So please do check back.

Okay, enough of this "we" stuff since Mary's not actually here right now.

So switching subjects completely:

Some of you long-time readers may have noticed that I've been slipping out of third person and into the first person lately. (For those who are not fiction writers obsessed with point of view: "First person" is writing as "I"; second person is writing as "you"; and the third person is writing as "she" or "he" or, in this case, "Crabby.")

I still haven't figured out what I want to do about that, but I'm leaning towards wanting to write less like a Crab and more like a normal person. (Not that Cranky Fitness will ever be "normal.")

So I appreciate your patience as I experiment. I tried to switch to first person a long time ago but then it felt weird and I gave it up after a few days. So that could always happen again. I also thought seriously about it a couple of months ago too--but the day I was going to announce the change, guess what?

I followed a link and ended up here, at I Am Bossy.

As it happens, Bossy is an amazing, witty writer who can pull off the third person in a way that makes it seem all clever and doesn't alienate new readers. But you know how a gorgeous actress can wear a pair of funky looking glasses and make you think the glasses are cool? But your friends don't want to tell you that on you they're, well, kind of icky and distracting? Well, I suspect that's kind of what happened with me and Bossy and the Third-Person Nerd glasses. Just as I was about to ditch them and go get contacts, I saw Bossy walk by with the same pair I had she looked so great!

I still love third person when other people do it--but I'm not sure I want to chain myself to it for the life of the blog. (Plus, now I've got a co-blogger and a legitimate excuse to use the editorial "we" sometimes, which also comes in handy).

Anyway, hopefully I'll be chatting with some of you over the break, but for those who are hopping on a plane or packing up the minivan: safe travels and have a great holiday!

18 comments:

  1. Makes no difference to me whether you write in first or third person! And since I have a week and a half off from work, if you blog, I'll read!

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  2. (aww. I believe that was the very first post I commented on here. Opinion hasn't changed.)

    Oh please. I totally laughed at this pre-explanation: For those who are not fiction writers obsessed with point of view:

    More like For those of you who never finished junior high:

    Have a nice "kind-of" blog break!
    I know I'm looking forward to mine- I ate 9 cookies today. Nine.

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  3. I hope you have a wonderful holiday! And yup, I've noticed traffic slows down all over the Blogosphere this time of year.

    You've got a great blog -- whether you write in first person or third, you're always entertaining. :)

    All the best to you and yours in 2008!

    And if you'll excuse me, I have a cheese log waiting for me in the refrigerator... ;-D

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  4. I adore the Crab's third person voice!

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  6. Sorry for the deleted comment, sometimes Blogger makes me a little, um, Cranky...

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  7. Crabby, the Bag Lady totally 'gets' how difficult it can be to write in the third person! She has been slipping a little bit lately, but that may be due to stress...
    She's with bunnygirl - you write and you will have readers!

    And Katieo - NINE cookies!? Oh, please...the Bag Lady is starting to look like Santa...especially if that one long white (nearly invisible) hair growing out of the
    scar on her chin counts as a beard! (how did it get so long without the Bag Lady seeing it? Must need new glasses...)

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  8. Thanks Bunnygirl. And hope you enjoy your week and a half off!

    Katieo, that's too funny! But I did pretty much the same thing: the Lobster just made cookies and I had at least four in cookie dough alone. But I'm going to try to get back to sensible eating today as it's amazing how quickly the 'holiday treats' can escalate. (Note: try).

    Thanks so much Thomma Lyn! And mmmm, cheese log...

    TK, thanks and sorry for messin' with it!

    Bag Lady--Well, if I end up bailing, I hope you can carry on the Third Person tradition for me--you handle it really well! (And how come no one ever told me about the whole getting-older chin-hair issue? Gosh middle age is fun!)

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  9. Crabby,

    Whatever--first person, third person, how about second person--now there's a challenge.

    You keep awritin' and I'll keep areadin'

    Merry Christmas!

    Terrie

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  10. Crabby - the Bag Lady forgot to mention - when she first read the title of this post, she wondered if you were having a Christmas duck instead of goose...or turkey... ;)

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  11. If You Blog It .... We Will, umm, Read It! Yeah, that's it!

    You go ahead and write in which ever of your personalities you want to! Oh, I mean, points of view, don't I. Don't mean to make it sound like you have more than one ...oh forget it.
    NO finish! No, I'm the one writing here, leave off.

    Sorry, lost control there for a moment.

    Have a good holiday!

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  12. Honestly, I don't really notice when you switch "persons" in your writing. I do, however, wonder how you and Mary are able to write so collaboratively. At first I thought Mary was actually the Lobster, and then I thought maybe you were trying to control a split personality disorder. Now I really don't know.

    Sorry I haven't been commenting as much lately, December got totally out of control and January I head back to school. Beware! 46 year old woman returns to Junior College...YIKES!

    Enjoy your Christmas break, but I will try to comment so as not to let you think you are alone if you post. I hate when you get that empty echo-y sound down in the comments section.

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  13. Who said 'if you build it, they will come'? Same with this blog - you write, we read...

    Have a great Christmas, look forward to whatever posts appear over the holiday season.

    Afraid it's business as usual over at the ,Healthbolt blog - networks don't let you close down for christmas...I just ignore the traffic numbers this time of year.

    Cheers from sunny New Zealand...home of the Christmas BBQ,

    Liz

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  14. sneaking online when I should be keeping an eye on the dinner cooking in the oven
    Holly, I am pretty sure I'm not the Lobster. Crabby's just an easy person to get along with. (Not sure if I was supposed to mention that online. I might have ruined her Blog cred.)

    ... oh great. Now I've got The Beatles "I am the Walrus" running through my head. Well, it makes change from "White Christmas" ;)

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  15. that picture is hilarious!
    and I will totally read if you blog, because I have a month off of school, and I would way rather read this then a history book...
    :)

    brit

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  16. Thanks so much Terrie! And actually second person is kind of fun sometimes--but I wouldn't want to write a whole blog in it.

    Bag Lady--mmm, duck a l'orange sounds pretty tasty...

    Reb, I'm glad I'm not the only one with multiple personalities!

    Holly, that's so funny! And yeah, while I may indeed have lots of psychological issues, poor Mary is a real live person and not an alter-ego. And that's so cool that you're going back to school! Do keep us posted on how that's going.

    Thanks Kiwiwriter! And that's too bad you don't get to take a break. Well, it's too bad for you but nice for us 'cause we get to read you!

    Hiya Mary! And maybe if you're not Crabby you ARE the Walrus. (Actually, since you're looking for a new name...) And damn, now you've got that song in my head too, Koo koo ca choo...

    Thanks Brit! And I wish we had more this coming week, but if you're off for a month there will plenty o' Cranky on the way, though I can't guarantee it will be more interesting than your history books. Thanks so much for
    stopping by.

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  17. Holly, my sister went back to college in her late 40s... she enjoyed it a lot more than she had when she was in her 20s. Let us know how it goes!

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  18. I enjoyed that post. Tks

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