There are things I never see in blogs.

Punching that Next Blog button on the top of this page is like walking down an unfamiliar street and peeking inside the life of a stranger.

A large percentage of them are not in English. I’d estimate the majority are Spanish, though there are Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German; probably every modern and forgotten language there is. A person standing in front of a camera holding a birthday cake with blazing candles is a common theme, as is family blogs showing a very old relative sitting amongst younger relatives who seem amazed that this old person is still there.

There are the annoying blogs that show all the expensive and extensive improvements a couple has made to their home. They also display their cars and trucks and boats and RV’s. I wonder if I book marked that page, next year all that excess would be diminished? One thing about these renovation pages is there is never a picture of the failure. We don’t see the arguments with the contractors, the frustration of the workers not showing up, the shock of finding out the cost went up 100% in a month!

These past few days the family blogs showed mostly grilles with massive amounts of meat and hot dogs; tables heavy with the latest in fancy food prepared in the most modern of kitchens. It seems for many blogs are the bastardization of those long Christmas letters you got in years past, where the sender tells you all the wonderful things that have happened in their immediate family the past year. We don’t see the parent who didn’t get the kids this holiday because they had them for Easter, who on the 4th of July are in their small dark kitchenette boiling a couple of hot dogs for lunch.

You get the idea. Take a few minutes and cruise the Next Blog highway. One thing I can assure you will discover is that activity is a big waste of time, or isn’t.