Metaphorically speaking, this is what I do

 

I’ve been asked by Liz Strauss, through fellow Central Iowa Blogger Mike Sansone, to describe my blog in metaphorical terms. Intrigued by the offer, I have also come to the conclusion that it’s a very practical exercise as well.

To be honest, I’ve never been totally comfortable with the term “blogger.” For one thing, the term has little intrinsic value to anyone who came of age in the pre-Internet era. For another, the term conjures up images of little green frogs hopping on and off of rapidly moving cartoon logs in an early video game with a similar-sounding name.

But my biggest misgiving, I think, comes from the all-too-common belief that bloggers represent the marginalized fringes of our society, wackos with an ax to grind, a cause to promote or just some stream of consciousness drivel to dump into a largely apathetic cyberspace.

Of course, none of that describes what I’m trying to do here. The title of this blog (Passing It On) and the subtitle (“A site dedicated to preserving, celebrating and sharing family and personal history”) are accurate representations of my goals. Whether I achieve them or not is for you to decide, but I have found a metaphor that works for what I do: My blog is like a reunion.

After all, reunions are joyous occasions, where old friends or family gather and connect through their common past. Participants vary from reunion to reunion, fresh faces appear and old ones fade away but our stories and recollections bind us. We walk away with a better understanding of who we are, where we’ve been and what’s truly important to us. That’s what I try to do here.

You won’t get fried chicken, potato salad or be subjected to another round of Uncle Fred’s bad jokes but, if you close your eyes and concentrate real hard, you can almost smell it, taste it, hear it. I’d rather describe the experience of a family reunion than try to explain what a blog is.

Thanks Mike and Liz.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Comments

[Liz Strauss]

You sure have captured the feeling! Thanks for being a part of the project!

[Janet Green]

Larry, I love the "family reunion" analogy, having been a genealogist for some ten years now and having just started a blog focused on that topic. When people ask me if I collect anything, I tell them "ancestors." It usually takes a moment for them to understand what I mean - it's not an expected answer - and then you can see the lightbulb come on, followed often by some interesting story from their own cast of family characters. Looking forward to reading more of your work here - thanks!
Janet Green

[Larry Lehmer]

Thanks, Liz, for getting this whole metaphor thing going.

I know what you mean, Janet, by everyone's "cast of family characters." We're all unique that way. Good luck with your blog.