Opacity & Transparency

Click for larger image

Angry Little Girls comic posted with permission [Lots more here; go see!]
Via Grab and Stash, which I found at BlueBlog

When Watermark was only a few months old, in May 2004, I requested a review from The Weblog Review.

Wendy began by saying:

As the weblog begins, Watermark tests out the blogging waters - how much should be revealed? Will readers get what's being posted? I'm sure those questions come to the minds of many bloggers at they jump into the realm of online diaries and such. The author and creator responsible for this weblog manages to quickly accomplish the feat of finding her comfort level of sharing.

And so I thought I had.

Over the years, as my blogging skills and preferences have evolved, I've received other reviews from these folks (if you're interested, you can see them here, and here.) Some of the observations I liked; some I didn't. Some suggestions I took on board; some I dismissed. Some I initially dismissed, chewed on for a long time, and then implemented.

But it was the recent review by amusings that unnerved me.

This is a thoughtful and thorough review. She clearly spent a lot of time and care doing it, and offers generous and useful observations.

Also painfully perceptive ones:

Sharon struggles with isolation, confesses and discusses repeatedly what it is like to be in pain, unable to go OUT and socialize, and how the internet is her way to stay connected with the world. Not just with the world of peers and poets, but just with all human contact. It is an amazing thing to realize while reading her journal what a life without socialization might be like.

She says she looked at my other sites, including Abide. Perhaps she saw it there?

I thought I was hiding this.

I thought you didn't know.

It terrifies me that this is what you see.