Things like that and a lot of truly bad comments to the point where I had to shut comments down in 2007. I still get nasty emails and posting on other local internet sites from anonymous individuals and some interesting ones.

My family didn’t even know I had a blog nor did most of my friends until I went to see some relatives for a holiday and they’d all read stories about it that went out on the wire because it was part of an investigation into possible police officer misconduct. That’s another reason not to write about myself given how many visits from the city’s computer (which apparently includes the police department) my site receives daily including I’m fairly certain ones who really dislike me anyway.

Actually, I could blog about family issues like alcoholism in the future, even using my family as a reference, but only because those involved are deceased. Living family deserves their privacy – they didn’t make the choice of posting publicly on the internet after all.

On the one hand, this isn’t “published” work in the terms Pepy’s diaries, and will be seen by, if you are fortunate a few hundred readers. So it isn’t exactly putting it out in the New Yorker. But it isn’t exactly private either and it is a form of expression, entertainment, etc.

For me, any representative of an industry is fair game, particularly when they represent that industry, and even then I tend not to use the name. Just, ‘That’s when M. whispered to me that ‘Blacks don’t really have the capacity for management.” – that sort of material because the greatest problems which exist are usually due to individuals whose actions and attitudes are not reflective of the corporate “vision” – has this backfired? Well, I wrote a rather scathing piece about the lack of privacy for medical information when a particular manager of a respite tacked my entire medical history to the board in the dining room. That manager due to a shuffle is now my assigned home care manager. Not comfortable BUT the problem of sharing confidential medical information within the carers of people with disabilities remains a problem. I tend not to write abstract articles because when people do or say inane things, they make a better literal point than an abstract one. I also carry a tape recorder. I also usually tell people (as I did her) that I write about disability issues. I also realize that it is entirely my point of view and they may come out with a blog showing thier viewpoint and we can discuss it (which honestly would be good, since this is less a debate than a penal system).

I guess the question is whether your topic or life is centered in such a way that you want to write so personally and be honest about that. Or instead, like most memoir writers, TRY and obscure who you are talking about and then have everyone find out anyway (Cassanova is a prime example).

I know, I know…it’s like, “get a diary already.” But there is something about the discipline of knowing I am writing for other people while trying to be as honest as possible with what I’m feeling or thinking. In many ways, this is more therapeutic for me than just puking my ideas into a journal.

On the other hand, I guess I shouldn’t worry too much since I write an inordinate amount about dog balls. So, whatevs.

I decided two rules: 1) Don’t record anything too personal for posterity’s sake. I won’t write about a fight I had with the husband or my parents, for example. And 2) Don’t tell other people’s stories for them. This is an issue of perspective, obvs., because my interpretation of truth is going to be different than others’. I had fights with friends in the past because they asserted that my version wasn’t how things really happened, or they felt I left out information to make myself appear a certain way.

Students, if you blog and you have an opportunity to take a class on autobiography as literature, I suggest you do. The greatest literary autobiographies are political (think Malcolm X and captivity narratives, for example), and autobiography is largely an American genre. It’s really helpful to lend some perspective to what we do when we blend personal and political for a larger narrative.

My third rule is a little more squidgy because it kind of negates points 1 and 2. 3) Don’t record anything too personal and don’t tell other people’s stories for them unless it directly contributes to that larger narrative in a way that is illustrative and constructive. And if you do, be careful and sensitive to the fact that you’re appropriating someone else’s life for your political point. That’s a dangerous thing if it isn’t done with care.