The Sunday Roast

Forget The Mistletoe, Concentrate On Holly

This week's interview is with Holly, who writes
the blog Holly's Never Everland.

The first of the standard questions. Why do you blog?

My family have always blogged. I come from a long line of blogging bloggers. There is a legend that Jebediah Bloggins Johnson (that'd be a maternal ancestor ...) did one of the very first memes. It was entitled "A treatise on ye olde sixe randome things about thyself." In it he included such lovely things as "Only 20 of my teeth are wooden." So naturally it was expected, nay demanded, that I carry on the torch, seeing that the rest of my siblings are just plain insane without the good sense to put it into text.

Okay actually, I blog because if I don't, people look at me strangely when I relate a lot of what's in my head to *them*. I had been thinking these blurbs up in my head for 20 some years, and then one day, I realized, "Hey, that's what blogs are for! Write that stuff down!"

I have typed the serious part of this answer three times now. None were the answer to the question "why." The "why" of my blogging is simply that I really thoroughly enjoy the creativity of it. I enjoy creating something that someone, somewhere, might get a giggle from. I also really enjoy typing the letter 'Q', although it really only comes up when I visit Quilly's blog, and not even that much then, because I *click* the 'Q' word for that.

I'll move on now.

What's the story behind your blog name?

Well, one of my long lost cousins is a very famous pop singer. Wears a glove. I think you know who I mean. Well, I kind of said "Michael, what do you think I should name my blog?" He said "Heee hee hee shimon!" Then he moon-walked away from me.

So then I called my other cousin, who likes to battle with a hook-handed captain. I said "Peter, what do you think I should name my blog?" He said he thought I ought to name it Tinkerbell. I said "for the last time, no."

Well, then one evening I did This Post. Shortly after that, I decided my name was ridiculous, it was Holly And Her Peculiar Thoughts. Dumb, but it worked for the time being. And so it came to pass that I held a vote, where people could suggest names. LeendaLuu got the most votes for the suggestion of my current name. I quite like it. It can stay. Thanks, Lee! It was not AT ALL rigged. There is no way I can say that and have people believe me, but it's true.

What is the best thing about being a blogger?

I think what I like most is the perpetual lack of sleep. Sleep really is over-rated, and the more we realize that we should really get on the order of three hours a night, the better off we'll be as a society.

No, wait. I think I have that wrong.

Okay what I truly like best about being a blogger is the instant fame and remuneration you receive.

No...wait. Still....wrong.

(Thinks *really* hard... Goes into serious mode.)

What I love most about being a blogger is that there is a network of people that you develop and they really care about what's going on with you. It's unique, and I didn't expect that to be a fringe benefit of this hobby.

(Leaves serious mode.) And typing the letter 'Q'.

What key advice would you give to a newbie blogger?

Oh there is so much advice to be doled out. Firstly, you want to kiss your old life goodbye. The days of watching tele and drinking the night away with a six-pack are just plain over. There are comments to be made, there are posts to be dreamt up, there are photos to be shopped. And what are you doin' there reading this? You should be skimming! (In case of any mistaken seriousness, that was truly a joke.) Secondly, do not forget, between the commenting and the posting, and the photoshopping, there is still a life to go out and have. If you stop going out and doing things in favour of blogging, you will run out of things about which to blog. Third, and I think this may be the most important point. You should invest in a good butt-pillow. You'll want to be in comfort for this.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever read?

There is a ton of great stuff out there. I hate picking one post because it says "all the others weren't worth my time." This is absolutely not the case, blogroll, I love you all!

But as you've put me at gunpoint, and I really must say I am against this violence, but we'll go with it because it's *you*, I think the theme that is closest to my thumbs-up finger is the one LeendaLuu did about body image. It touches on what I am trying to embrace daily.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever written?

I'm supposed to be writing significant posts?

Actually, there are a couple of threads I have done on my blog that have become series. One theme is that I sometimes use blogger fairies, which started with a leaving do that people said they wanted to go to. So I spent my last day of work cutting out blogger faces and putting them on fairy-paper-dolls. It's significant because I now do a lot with it; it's fun and people seem to enjoy *being* a blogger fairy. I pick up new fairies all the time. There is a fairy post "in the wings" from yesterday's activities! What do they do. WHAT DO THEY DO?

I also have been known to personify fellow bloggers as Polly Pockets, and have them go around kicking deserving people's butts as my "posse". It is *intended* that it be amusing. I think mainly it hits the mark. I hope so. If it it doesn't, someone really should tell me to stop it. Not that I *would*.

But the one I love the most is the one wherein I read my aunt's Christmas letter, My Aunt Wants me To Heart Jesus. It is, I think, entertaining, and it was extremely therapeutic. You may demand a refund if you don't at least smile.

Today's Sunday Roast with Holly is the 39th in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.