Blogs

[letrangere]

A disgusting term, I quite agree, but I was reading an article about them this morning which said that some of the best were invariably written by people travelling or moving to foreign counties.  Started me wondering whether anyone knows of any French related blogs or blog sites? (Sorry I'm not too up on the terminology.)

Incidentally, although the article said that many were purely self indulgent drivel and what sort of sad individual really wants to post the minutia of their daily life on the Web, thought crossed my mind that they're surely just a modern day verson of a diary albeit one accessible to the public.

M

[Mpprh]

Hi

There are a lot of expat blogs on the net.

I've got some in English, but based in France here :

http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/languedoc-articles01d.htm

Happy reading

Peter

[Tresco]

Hi Margaret.

There are so many blogs that are awful, but some that are brilliant. What you will enjoy could be very different to me.

One of the most visited sites in the world is called something like instapundit. Personally I find it the most tedius, poorly written stuff. A whole post about his new telly, or whatever.

I posted about blogs in the Laisure/pastimes section here not too long ago, and mentioned some of my favourites there. I recently found a couple more http://petiteanglaise.com/ 

That's a diary of a thirtysomething woman who has lived in Paris for 10 years. It does have elements of the minutia of daily life in it, but much more besides. She links to  a few other expats in France blogspots (not all Brits by any means).

A new favourite of mine (but not French related) is http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com

It's a blogging magistrate, who links to lots of different blogs too.

Sorry once again my links are not working.

tresco

[Ianhaycox]

Our blog, http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/ about moving to France, running gites and the renovation of two others.

You may, or may not enjoy reading it. You mileage may vary, as they say.

[letrangere]

Phew! thanks everyone, I honestly don't know what to say, it's mind b(l)oggling.  Immediate thoughts in no particular order include the intensity of the writing, the honesty, how comprehensive they are all.  How do people find time to live their day let alone write about it in such detail?  Must be up all night typing surely?  It's all a bit overwhelming too but I can imagine following them regularly can easily become quite addictive.  Guess you start to feel you know these people, worry about them, etc.  Some very useful tips though, especially reading Ian's.  And quite an eye opener for all those longing to opt out and run gites.  Thank you again,  fascinating...  M

[Kazanton]

I do a daily weblog. I've only just started it 2 weeks ago. Its about my life here dealing with the French Bureaucracy, my children, the people in my life. Takes me about 10-30 minutes to do and helps me both focus and release some frustrations as I think a lot (usually) about what I am going to post. I have found it quite therapeutic. Some might call it boring minutiae, others might get something else out of it... like heh, she is going through the same thing as me!

[Ianhaycox]

I, like Belinda, find it quite therapeutic. I find it also helps me focus on the positive aspects of the day. Sometimes you can find yourself thinking, "what have I done all day" and then when you come to write it down you realise quite how much you have achieved. Some of it is really boring day-to-day stuff, but if a reader is sat in an office infront of a PC screen for 8 hours a day (like I did for 10 years) it shows that there is another 'life' out there.

Opps, I think I'm starting to rant.

BTW Belinda, whats the URL ?

[Kazanton]

Here is the link... but be warned, some of it is painful, personal stuff... read at your own risk!

And be kind! This is my first attempt at something like this, I haven't worked out how to do all the buttons, bells and buzzers yet!

[petite anglaisepetite anglaise<br>http:www.petiteanglaise.com]

I stumbled on this forum as I saw a few people had clicked through to my blog. (http://www.petiteanglaise.com) It's interesting to hear what people who are new to the phenomenon say.

I'd love to know where the article that inspired the first post was published so I can have a look and see if any of my blogfriends are cited?

Someone said to me the other day that blogging is the most recent sort of vanity publishing. There are millions of blogs out there, and often the hardest thing of all is finding your way to the ones that have something to say, in a style that you can relate to.

There is also a sense of community among bloggers and their readership (mine is about 1000 people a day, some are more like 40,000), and the person above who said they could imagine blog reading being addictive was right. You do get rather attached to the people you read about (some of whom I have since met)

I can wholeheartedly recommend the expat blogs on my sidebar if you fancy dipping into some more.

[letrangere]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's vanity publishing.  People have something to say, they need an outlet for it, off they go, why ever not?  And if others want to read it, that's good.  I'm an aspiring novelist and fully understand the therapeutic powers of writing, that's how I got started.  And if you're leading a life that others are interested in and maybe even want to follow (I'm thinking of Ian's gites, for example), reading the blogs of those who've done it already must be extremely helpful. 

Looking across at my bookshelf here I can see numerous volumes of various people's diaries.  However, with few exceptions, such as Diary of a Nobody, or better still, EM Delafield's, the Diary of a Provincial Lady, which is celebrated for its ordinariness, unless you're rich and famous, no publisher is ever going to be interested in an account of your humdrum day.  So blogging is the perfect solution.  M

[TiffanyS<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1><U>hometown.aol.co.uktiffanystacpooleanimalmatters.html<U><FONT><P>]

Here's one I came across. I think that's exactly what they are, online diary's... I guess that sometimes people have interesting lives, and sometimes they just want to talk about their lives even if they aren't glamorous or interesting

Blogs seems to be about finding a public, rather than a private place to express and share ideas. The internet represents a changing world where we make our communities from the safety of our homes, rather than going out to do it for real.... perhaps that's why they are popular...

http://journals.aol.co.uk/careylenehan/EscapetoStParadis/

[letrangere]

Anyone know how to set one up?  M

[Kazanton]

You can go through the one I use. It's free and dead simple.

http://www.blogspirit.com/en/index.php

(Thank you for the kind comments, MWJ and Peter, by the way... )

[Ianhaycox]

In the past I used http://www.blogger.com/ which is owned by Google. It's free and easy to use. I think it now integrates with Picasa for easy picture uploading etc.

I use http://radio.userland.com/ which costs $40 a year and you get 40Mb of web server space.

Radio is much more customizable then Blogger, but if your just venturing out into the blogosphere then try Blogger first.

There are others such as http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ but I've no experience of them. You may wish to visit http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/10/03/blogSoftware.html

Happy blogging

[Cat]

[quote user="Tresco"]

Hi Margaret.

There are so many blogs that are awful, but some that are brilliant. What you will enjoy could be very different to me.

One of the most visited sites in the world is called something like instapundit. Personally I find it the most tedius, poorly written stuff. A whole post about his new telly, or whatever.

I posted about blogs in the Laisure/pastimes section here not too long ago, and mentioned some of my favourites there. I recently found a couple more http://petiteanglaise.com/ 

That's a diary of a thirtysomething woman who has lived in Paris for 10 years. It does have elements of the minutia of daily life in it, but much more besides. She links to  a few other expats in France blogspots (not all Brits by any means).

[/quote]

Tresco, have you read the petite anglaise blog recently?

I've been following it ever since you mentioned it in your post last March, and it looks like she's about to become famous (or infamous, depending on your take on things).  Have a look at the blog that got me fired

She is now talking to publishers about a book deal!

 

 

[PossumGirl]

I've been writing a blog about our experiences ever since we decided to move to France at the end of 2004. I started it as a way of keeping family and friends informed about what was going on, without writing the same thing to everyone. What has surprised me is how many strangers have read it.  I've actually made several "flesh friends" because of Possumworld and the first year of entries was published as a book earlier this year.

I suppose it does seem a bit self-indulgent.  However, I've been a writer for many years, so it seemed a natural thing to start up.  I like it because it's a different type of writing from what I do to make a living, and I figure no one has to read it!

PG

[Tresco]

[quote user="Cat 46"]

Tresco, have you read the petite anglaise blog recently?

I've been following it ever since you mentioned it in your post last March, and it looks like she's about to become famous (or infamous, depending on your take on things).  Have a look at the blog that got me fired

She is now talking to publishers about a book deal!

[/quote]

Thanks Cat. I'd caught up with all this a couple of days ago. The blogosphere is going bananas. The last time I looked, yesterday afternoon, she had nearly 150 comments in her in box.

 I'm fairly sure her days as a secretary are over for the time being, and not just with the numbskulls who fired her.

No one could have identified either her or her emplyers from what she wrote. The publicity for them is all bad, and for her it's all good. She's been interviewed by loads of braodsheets here and in England, and done a fair amount of of radio too. I read one interview that was done over the phone to Korea.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="MWJ"]

Incidentally, although the article said that many were purely self indulgent drivel...

[/quote]

Mine certainly is, which is why I use a pseudonym and would never post a link to it. [:)]

[wedderburn]

[quote user="Jon D"]Mine certainly is, which is why I use a pseudonym and would never post a link to it. [:)][/quote]

Phew, a thread-killer! Nothing wrong with a bit of drivel now and again, so here's the latest contribution on my blog [;-)]

Greener Grass...

[Richard-R]

I if was you I would look at www.myspace.com (90 million users WOW) or www.multiply.com

More of an all round community, with photo postings, blogs and groups etc. Something for everyone in either of these sites.

[Tresco]

One of the blogs I visit regularly (as popular as Petite Anglaise) was plagiarised by someone using 'Myspace' recently.

The plagiarism wasn't just a few lines, it was every single posting...probably 15 of them. The blogger ripped the plagiarist to shreds and young  'Ms Myspace' went off into the ether.

If only university lecturers were so on the ball[:D]

Hey! Wedderburn. JonD didn't kill the thread. Jond couldn't do that! You could have done though, with your shameless plug.[:D]

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Tresco"]

Hey! Wedderburn. JonD didn't kill the thread. Jond couldn't do that! You could have done though, with your shameless plug.[:D]

[/quote]

I dunno...went pretty quiet for a while.

I, personally, regard blogging as an entirely sef-indulgent activity. I

quite enjoy doing it, but I have no illusions that I am writing

anything of any real merit. Still, it has improved my typing speed.

[Tresco]

Jolly good JonD, but the thing is that you and  Possum Girl contribute here, to this thingy. you didn't just join and then say, 'look at me!'.

That said, Wedderburn, you write well. It was amusing, but, you know, I've heard all those things before, HERE!

 I'm not mad on people slagging brits abroad off, because no matter how long you are here, their (our) voices will always stand out above the nonsense French people are speaking. (You/we are attuned to it).

God knows if you had listened to the French people at the next table, I wonder how stupid/thrilling/dim/boring their conversation was?

We'll never know.[:)]

[Miki]

To put it bluntly, I do find blogs generally rather self congratulatory

but harmless cos' I don't bother to read them much now, after the first

few lines anyway. As Tresco says, it's all been read and seen before

anyway.

As for :

[quote] God knows if you had listened to the French people at the next table, I

wonder how stupid/thrilling/dim/boring their conversation was?[/quote]

For many years I thought my French was OK (until my kids zoomed past me

in under a year and now my French is piffling compared to two Bac

kids), over several years, holidaying or living here and chatting,

albeit very much on the surface style French, I also used to

wonder what the deep conversations that the French were having and what

about on the next table.........then one day.... I become the next table and

I discovered that is was on the whole,  all pretty boring stuff and we

discussed things........over and over again. Wish now I had stayed at the

other table.........................[;-)]

[Tresco]

One of my favourite heavyweight bloggerss (obsessed with Chinese affairs and  all that) recently revealed he had some testicular necophralus tissue eating disease (I made the name up, but you get the picture?).[:'(]

He mentioned it, in passing.

He got a few sarcastic comments in his comments box. That's the kind of Blog I like.