"iwant2bfamous.com"

If you've read the Sunday Times recently, think you'll know what I mean. Just to add my ten-cents' worth... I was thinking, what use can a blog be? Why do people want to write in a blog anyway? And what makes them read and read other people's blogs?

WZ asked similar questions in his blog some time ago:

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging.

Why do I have to apologise? Haha, it must be KC's incessant hounding on my tagboard that has made me feel guilty (?) about not having blogged. Anyway, why are you all so interested in reading my blog? In fact, why the interest in reading blogs in general? Have you ever pondered about how voyeuristic blog-surfing is? I do it too - going to the blogs of my friends almost every single day, just to see if he/she has blogged...

Heh, very voyeuristic of me. (Voyeuristic... why does that word sound so nice? ;))

There are some people's blogs I really love to keep on visiting e.g. Weizhu's and Shuyi's. And other blogs that I'm rather tentative about visiting - they make me feel a bit depressed or put-off or sad. And other blogs that I visit, because they make me smile, laugh or just simply refresh me.

But why do I visit the blogs that I love to visit? Maybe it's because I find them very heartwarming - especially if what they write is something that I can identify with. Somehow, they represent an oasis of familiarity, like your favourite dishes, or your favourite TV show or teddy bear. But I think, personally, it goes beyond mere familiarity. Perhaps it's because I feel edified and encouraged after I read that person's blog.

Maybe that's why the Diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who lived during the Holocaust, is such a beloved classic. Perhaps that's why Rachel's Tears, the diary of a girl who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre, can rend one's heart as one reads it. And I also think of mrbrown's blog - I really enjoy reading his blog entries, especially the ones about his autistic daughter - they're very encouraging.

So, maybe, as Longfellow put it so well, these people's written experiences are a step above the ordinary, because they have struggled with what everyone struggles with, and have overcome or are overcoming:

"We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again."

So, I'm thinking about what Peter told me before, "Even a simple blog can make a difference." And why not? In the end, I think, it's not about how many comments your blog receives (though that IS nice, haha), or even how many positive reviews you got... but I guess, the more wonderful thing would be, how many "forlorn and shipwrecked brothers (or sisters)" has your very own blog helped to lift up?

Then, I think that would be one blog that, in this "iwant2bfamous.com" age, will continue to endure even after its contents have long gone to the Big Bit Bucket in the Sky. :)