DeafBlogLand - bringing us closer together?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've become addicted to reading blogs. Truth is, a lot of blogs out there are pretty boring, talking about one's personal life. You know what? I don't care... unless I'm friends with the person and I care about the person. THEN I want to know how the person is and what the person is up to! *smile* Otherwise, I'd rather read sites that stimulate my thinking, offer points of views on topics, make me reflect, and even teach me something. As a result, I haven't been into reading blogs all that much, except for a select several sites, until several weeks ago.

So what happened several weeks ago? I discovered some more blogsites that I enjoyed, then DeafRead.com was launched. That clinched it. DeafRead.com just reeled me in, and I'm currently flopping around like a fish out of water, holding on to that bloggin' worm for dear life. As a blogger, I've been more interested in raising issues for discussion or offering an offbeat perspective than waxing rhapsodic about my latest trip to the beach all along, and I've been wishing there were more sites like that. Well, gee, I got my wish... and then some. *chuckle* No complaints, no complaints.

One thing that's taken me by surprise is how I've grown to care about people I've never met and formed opinions about people I've never met. Take TactileJunkie, for example. I discovered her blog recently and I just admire her so much now. She is a warm, caring, intelligent, scrappy, and feisty young woman. Frarochvia is another example. She's good friends of a good friend of mine, and the chronicles of her Matisse, Picasso, and baba are a must-read for me now. Her writing is fresh and original, playing with language to great effect. QueenAlpo, both on her site and on DeafDC, is an enjoyable read with a lively writing style. I've never met Tayler or Jared, but because of blogging, we have corresponded and I have a great deal of respect for these two young men. I could go on and on with more positive examples. There is the flip side of the coin, however. One blogger comments everywhere in DeafBlogLand and he is the most infuriatingly condescending person who is amazingly comfortably ensconced in his jingoistic myopia. Nothing anyone says sways him. He just replies, repeating himself, completely dismissing anything anyone has to say, and accusing others of misunderstanding or misinterpreting his comments. There are some people out there who are so filled with anger that they lash out at people who don't agree or attempt to engage them in dialogue. They are ridiculously sensitive and accuse others of outlandish things. As a result, there are a few names or pseudonyms that when I encounter them in DeafBlogLand, I actually cringe or groan. And I have never met any of these people, yet I respond to them just as I would those who I have known for months or years.

As I and other bloggers have said recently, DeafRead.com is a wonderful thing, because it provides a central place for discourse. But I'm realizing more and more that the explosion of DeafBlogLand and the centralization provided by DeafRead.com is having a more profound effect than just on the types of discussion and the depth of discussions. We are all relating to each other and responding to each other on a personal level as well. We are becoming more and more interconnected. I can only conclude that this is helping to bring us closer together as a community, even though at times the road seems quite bumpy. While some of us may disagree on some things, those disagreements are out in the open and this is an opportunity for us to work things through by rational, courteous discourse and listening to each other. This is just amazing to me - how we're learning more about each other and responding to each other just as we would with people we are already acquainted with. I'm looking forward to more dialogue and to becoming closer with people out there in DeafBlogLand. *handwave* to y'all, the Teeming Millions.