It was a blogging blind date of sorts. Brian and I hopped in the car and drove about thirty minutes yesterday morning to meet up with Bush for lunch. Neither one of us had met Bush before but the three if us have been reading each others blogs for a while.
It’s a weird thing when you meet someone for the first time that has read your blog. There is a lot of “Yeah, I read that.” and “Oh yeah, I forgot about that”. It’s really easy to hop into conversation and feel comfortable because you feel like you know so much about the person already. We knew his wife’s name. He knew ours. We knew his goals. He knew ours. The formalities are long gone and you can actually spend that time hanging out.
Traveling around as much I as I have this year I have had the chance to meet a bunch of people who tell me, “I read your blog”, and it’s an instant conversation about something. At first it was weird, but the more it happens the more I realize, yet again, how connected you can truly be to the world around you.
Have you ever met anyone strictly from your blog?
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That would be really cool.
I haven’t MET anyone that reads my blog but two months ago, in this Kutless/Newsboys concert, I was so sure that I saw Shawn there and it was pretty weird. Then when I wrote about the concert he told me that he had gone, so yeah I’m pretty sure it was Shawn.
We actually have a group that gets together every other month of so and eats dinner. We all go to the same church but don’t all really know each other except through blogs. We call it “Blog 2 Face”. Catchy, huh?
Our second meeting (”B2F2″) just happened this week, actually. I blogged about it on Thursday. So I guess some of us met “strictly” from the blogs, but some already knew each other.
It is weird and fun and vulnerable. It’s a different dynamic than any other friendships I have. For a group of people (not my best friends) to have SO MUCH information on me going into a conversation makes me feel like I’m cut wide open on the table. You know what I mean?
Another weird thing is when I start telling someone a story, maybe an “acquaintance” or person I don’t talk to a lot, and they interrupt me to say, “Oh yeah, I read that on your blog”. It takes me aback every time.
I saw a blog once where the two people met through blogs, in different cities, and got married!! I think that is wacky.
Brody - That sounds great. I love the idea of meeting a group of blog friends. I’m drawn to how that veil is kind of lifted from the start and everything feels more authentic. I love those pure, sometimes raw interactions with people. My thoughts are deepened, my heart’s enlarged, and my life is richer because of it. It’s like this fast track where I can pray for, encourage, and enjoy them with more sincere connection and passion. Blogs so support that.
Jimmy and I had lunch with Seth, Amber, Cachinnator and a couple other bloggers last year. That was fun.
I never have. I have a few readers in other countries and would love to make a trip out of it!
I never have. I have a few readers in other countries and would love to make a trip out of it!
my wife and i had a “blog blind date” with Bush and another ‘blogger’ friend a couple of weeks ago…some of the best fellowship we’ve had in years!! love those guys! glad you and Brian got to hang with him!!
That sounds like fun. We’re new, so not many blog friends yet (aww…)
On a related note, there are people that I communicate better with online than in person. If I email them, I can be casual and funny, but in person, I feel like we’re still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage. Does that make any sense?
So, did any of you play D&D in high school?
Curt. Is this a way to make fun of us, or are you looking for friends? Either way. No I didn’t play D&D, but thanks for asking.
Oh Yeah and “dude@yahoo.com” is almost as clever as “screw@you.com”…
dude, sorry I was mean.
I haven’t, but would like to. I have met people in person that I knew through message boards, though.
My wife blogs too and we met a great couple called the Marlers. A few days after that I met (along with the Marlers) Bush and a friend of his named Jimmie when they were down in Houston.
Aaron Ivey would be another…My wife is the best at it…she has met about 11 people from the blog world.
Rich Kirkpatrick and I met with Victor from The Wonderful Noise last week. It was pretty cool…
I know this post is old news (ha) but I thought I’d throw this in…my “fake” friend Josh (a writer for my section on relevantmagazine.com and someone I’ve not met yet face to face) took a cross-country trip recently. On his way from Indiana to Seattle for grad school, he stayed in many homes of people he only knew through blogger/the internet and also of perfect strangers. You can see his sum-up post about this or go back through his late July/early August posts that document his journey with photos and stories.
It’s seriously remarkable. He’s a link:
http://www.thelongbrake.com/blog/2007/09/01/to-the-left-to-the-left-seattle-washington-home-is-a-fluid-concept/