Roll Call

Before the holidays I was reading about 8-10 blogs each day. Sadie, ASM, Hubman, Holly, M, Angie and Mike, Ms. I, Amorous, SwingerWife, and Suburban Hotwife. Although I read them ever day, I found that I didn't comment as frequently. So I've found myself in the "lurker" category even on the blogs I do read daily.

During the holidays I had a LOT of free time so I started adding even more since the posts were alot less frequent. I finally had to start using Google Reader to keep up with them so I can see who has posted and who has not. Now I'm up to around 50 that I'm trying to read (as I commented on Sadie's recent post, I sure wish there was a job that paid me to read these *grins*) and I find myself getting behind frequently or on some occasions challenged to want to read.

Why do I read blogs? There is definitely some entertainment aspects to reading blogs, but the core reason for me, new perspectives. I truly believe that you can learn from others without having to directly experience everything. If you knew me well, you would know that I really hate to read. The own three types of reading materials; Technical books for work, Poker Strategy books (my other hobby), and Playboy. Picking up a book makes me start to fall asleep, yet I've always been able to sit and read my computer monitor for 10-15hrs a day (ever since college) without even giving it a second thought. The more I think about it, I believe it is because I try to put myself in the characters/writers head while reading. In a traditional novel that means hundreds of pages and as my mind starts wondering through all of that I drift off to fantasy land. So I never really get very far into a book, plus many books takes about 60-100 pages to develop the storyline which I'm just not patient enough for.

So what does this have to do with anything you may be asking yourself? When I read blogs I try to put myself in your shoes to see what you are seeing, feel what you are feeling, and living out those experiences. And in some cases I even put myself in the other people's shoes in the post. This works great on the Open Marriage, Poly, BDSM, HotWife, and Swinger blogs because they follow many of my own natural leanings. The blogs that pertain to folks life (their successes and their challenges), those can be very cool.

The last "group" of blogs I read seem to all relate some form of infidelity. Some aspects intrigue me, like the woman wanting sex/intimacy more the man. Also many of the adventures they go on really result into extremely hot and steamy escapades. When "they" discuss the spouse is when being in either person's shoes is a real challenge for me. As much as I've read on several of these blogs, the guys have little to no interest in their wives who happen to have normal to high sex drives, so the ladies did what they needed to do. But once I start putting myself in the shoes of the husbands, all the worst thoughts in the world go into my head. They are really my own fears and insecurities coming to life within my own head. There was a time a few years back where I actually turned down sex or the overtures from my own wife. It had nothing to do with my sex drive (I'm always on and ready to go), but I was in a very passive aggressive mode where I felt I was being wronged in other ways so I shut her out. (I was the "Stupid Boy" and I still pay for that these days) But while reading these blogs I go through the swings of sexy to feelings of loss and betrayal, all the way to being unwanted or desired myself. So there are days when I do not read certain blogs because I can't mentally or even emotionally handle reading them.

I must offer kudos to each and every blogger out there. I enjoy reading (and commenting more I hope) your blogs and trying to view your perspectives on life. That is where I learn so much about you as well as myself. There are several times I see these new perspectives and begin to use them in how i think about my own life and how I go about dealing with challenges in my life.

Thank you each and every one! I'm looking forward to 09 and the growth that comes along with it. Happy Blogging!