Friday, May 30, 2014

the bitch is back: an update

I've been considering shutting down this blog.  The primary reason is that it has been a chronicle of my raising two very eccentric children, and they have grown old enough not to want to be chronicled.  I avoid writing about the ever-amusing and interesting Iris uber Alles because, at age 14, she has become a highly private person.   However!  In discussions with Lola, she has explicitly given me permission to continue writing about her "so long as it's not embarrassing."  So we're a bit hamstrung here, but not entirely.

While I was on hiatus, a mother of one of Lola's friends invited me to get together, and it turned out that she was inspired to ask me for coffee because someone told her to read this blog, saying "Everyone reads The Drunken Housewife!"  As she read it, she recognized the details and realized that she knew the author.  Indeed, her child had spent the night at the Drunken Housewife's home (and emerged none the worse for wear).  Over coffee this woman said to me charmingly, "I knew I liked you before, but now I really like you!"  How embarrassing it was for me to then stammer, "I think I'm not writing it any more."

A few other people contacted me outside of the blog to ask me to keep writing.  So, I concluded, the blog may have seen its best days.  The bigger numbers, the being mentioned in the Wall St. Journal or other periodicals, may be past us.  But!  There are still people who want to read whatever embarrassing tripe I manage to occasionally spew out, and it's not as if I'm doing something so much better with my time.

What have I been up to, besides not blogging?  I have a new volunteer gig, working a shift a week at a wildlife rehab clinic.  That's invigorating as it's hard work in a good cause and gets me out of the house regularly.  I've been quilting again.   I'm attempting to buy a vintage trailer so I can stop sleeping in a tent at Burning Man and instead live in a tiny little bastion of retro cuteness.  I have an almost-tamed white kitten with blue eyes who needs a home very badly (a home with other cats, please, as she loves all other cats).  I've read some very good books and wasted a lot of time hate-reading PUA forums online.  I took a spur-of-the-moment road trip down to L.A. to help out my beloved commenter Hughman and his elderly beagle, Polly.   And again that brings me back to the fact that this blog has brought me real friends.  It's funny how I've inadvertently made enemies with this blog but in my everyday life, I'm more affected by the real friends who've met me through it.  It has enriched my life, although not financially (I did have a few ads here once upon a time but have not done anything to follow up on those).  So!  I'll keep it up, but with significantly fewer anecdotes of the children, sigh.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you changed your mind! I love your blog, so refreshing. I am very suspicious of all these infuriatingly, continually chirpy women who write blogs. Thanks for coming back.

Claire M. Johnson said...

I'm also very glad that you're back!

There are still people who want to read whatever embarrassing tripe I manage to occasionally spew out...

Yes, there are.

I've said this before but I think it bears saying again. You're more to your readers than a recaller of your children's antics. I read you not because of your kids but because you're refreshingly honest, angry, sad, hilarious, bitter, compassionate, and, again, honest about how you feel about being an intelligent, if not brilliant!, woman who is facing aging and marriage and whatever bouquets and brickbats life throws your way.

From one bitch to another, yo! Glad to see you and your words again.

Silliyak said...

Welcome back! How IS Hughman?. I miss his comments/insights/snarky remarks as well.

J9 said...

Welcome back! One of my favorite series of posts had little to do with the kids. It was about the Aga. I only found out about it through you, and now have a burning desire for one...

Freewheel said...

Glad you're still here. Are you on twitter? If so, you could post a link whenever you have a new post so your readers would know to check in.

the Drunken Housewife said...

@Silliyak Hughman is hanging in there. I could hook you up via email if you like.

@Freewheel I promise I will start a twitter for that. It is on my To Do List.

Dawna said...

I am so ecstatic to see you're back! I've missed cooking with the Aga. I've missed the fur & feathers. I've missed wondering how a husband as intelligent as the Sober One can be so clueless about the proper care & emotional feeding of his lovely Drunken Housewife. I've missed the adventures about town on your own or with your family. I've missed envying your free spirit & fashion sense. Most of all, I've missed your voice.
Dammit, DH! You've been missed!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you're back. I missed your blog.
Kate

Anonymous said...

Lola says:
"You can post weird things I say, so long as it is not so weird my friend who reads this blog a lot (daughter of mother who met you for coffee) will think I am weeeeeird."