common sense isn't

So I was browsing around technorati and I came across this one blog called Dooce which I found kind of interesting, mostly because it sort of puzzles me that there are people like her and Kottke who can and do appear to live by blogging alone. But, that is besides the point.

So anyway apparently this Dooce character is a bit of an internet celebrity and so she linked to some piece the BBC had put online about her, in which she offered 4 tips for blogging. Summarized, they are:

1. Blog anonymously if you want to blog freely
2. If you choose to ignore #1, don't ever ever write something about somebody you wouldn't tell them to their face
3. If you make an email address available, people will send mean things to it, this is a given.
4. Good writing is not a prerequisite, just be honest and "have soul"

The first three seem like common sense to me, and though the fourth is certainly a nice thing to say, I think there is some sort of lower bound because at some point things become almost if not entirely unintelligible. Common sense though they may be, however, I think I've at one time or another managed to ignore them to bad effect.

It's tricky though, to stick to these simple guidlines. For me, at least, it is tricky because I am not ever vigilant in constantly checking to make sure I haven't said something to somebody that might get passed along some grapefine and ultimately come back to haunt me. And so while I certainly do find it at least somewhat enjoyable to spend a few minutes checking the blogs of people I know and reading about what they're up to, and from time to time writing something and letting people who know me what I'm up to, at times it can be a source of anxiety. I might ponder the interpretations of what I've said or misinterpret somebody else's remark and then get all caught up in thinking about who's talking about who and what do they mean.

Or it might just be that there will be some time period when many people will suddenly stop and just drop out of contact. I'll start speculating as to what they're up to, or if there's some other reason. I think there's never actually been a situation where I was ultimately proven right with my wild speculation, but this lack of reinforcement has not yet stopped me.

Oh well. One of these days I'll figure out how not to get so carried away with thinking about trivial things.