tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post4477671390859109455..comments2023-08-18T19:57:30.372+10:00Comments on humanities researcher: Three Excruciatingly Personal Blog Entries, No.2This old world is a new worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-26390371816849693362008-02-15T11:16:00.000+11:002008-02-15T11:16:00.000+11:00Dear plainsdweller,I'm sure all who are reading wi...Dear plainsdweller,<BR/><BR/>I'm sure all who are reading wish you all the best on the road ahead. <BR/><BR/>Some of the best advice I received was to take my time in going through it all; time just to process it. You're right, that it can take you over. But that's not always a bad thing. <BR/><BR/>And of course, you'll find - or make - your own road, too.<BR/><BR/>Courage, mon amie!This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-79953384931505675682008-02-15T10:57:00.000+11:002008-02-15T10:57:00.000+11:00I have been dipping into your blog for a month or ...I have been dipping into your blog for a month or so now since at a similar age I had a similar diagnosis six weeks ago and surgery three weeks ago. Instant menopause awaits me when the chemotherapy begins next week so have found your experiences fascinating to read and I feel that I am wandering along the path in your wake - finding the clues you have left which allow me to consider the plainsdwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00178222907475294641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-27547692960066907712008-02-12T17:07:00.000+11:002008-02-12T17:07:00.000+11:00Thanks to Genevieve and David for setting the issu...Thanks to Genevieve and David for setting the issues spinning again.This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-3997498729675688752008-02-12T12:25:00.000+11:002008-02-12T12:25:00.000+11:00whoops, also conscious of all those things when re...whoops, also conscious of all those things when reading the responses too. Especially PC's above. The <I>conversation</I>...genevievehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02895689949182365454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-18285411215332659612008-02-12T12:23:00.000+11:002008-02-12T12:23:00.000+11:00Thanks Stephanie. I think you are absolutely right...Thanks Stephanie. I think you are absolutely right about the desire component - there is a large section of this part of my life that I simply don't want to re-enter. Though I guess the 'journal' writing in the communication book to staff could be seen as a primitive form of offline blogging, providing an avenue for 'naming and sharing' that would not otherwise have been available.<BR/><BR/>You genevievehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02895689949182365454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-70132332103345592112008-02-11T13:14:00.000+11:002008-02-11T13:14:00.000+11:00"To traverse the universal and chart the unique" -..."To traverse the universal and chart the unique" -- I like that! It sums up very nicely both writing about and experiencing menopause (or aging in general, or death, or childbirth and parenthood?) and personal-blogging as a genre.<BR/><BR/>I've read and reread The Menopause Post several times now, and the responses to it. I was struck by wariness, and by feeling like a foreigner to some degree. David Thornbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12129481335342570688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-1102610089394411902008-02-10T16:19:00.000+11:002008-02-10T16:19:00.000+11:00Thanks, Genevieve. Well, that's interesting, you k...Thanks, Genevieve. <BR/>Well, that's interesting, you know. I guess I meant that menopause was a common experience but that the individual still needs to struggle to make sense of it somehow, and that blogging was a good medium for such.<BR/><BR/>Tracing a child's growth and development, however problematic or untroubled, has a similar potential to traverse the universal and chart the unique. I This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-44049096488796667372008-02-10T09:43:00.000+11:002008-02-10T09:43:00.000+11:00Also can I add that I draft everything for the blo...Also can I add that I draft everything for the blog in Notepad, even if it's just brief notes with URLs. I have lost things too often to Typepad limbo(by foolishly clicking off to another spot without saving) not to do so.<BR/><BR/>I'm rereading your final paragraph with its closing statement that life experiences are 'made for blogging'. I don't know about that. I have a box full of genevievehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02895689949182365454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-33486738034779808462008-02-10T00:31:00.000+11:002008-02-10T00:31:00.000+11:00Stephanie, always when I visit here I read somethi...Stephanie, always when I visit here I read something remarkable that is always beautifully expressed. <BR/>Thanks for this calm and lucid insight into a more sudden change than most - and PC, I didn't know the cotton wool thing was normal, but I'm sure glad to hear that it goes away.genevievehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02895689949182365454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-9018312083870909772008-02-05T13:55:00.000+11:002008-02-05T13:55:00.000+11:00Well, I guess I was curious to see what kinds of r...Well, I guess I was curious to see what kinds of responses I got to these three Big Posts, especially as they seem to have caused a bit of a spike in my readership. But yeah, one doesn't easily rush in to this kind of territory. And I'll admit to drafting my post in Word first.<BR/><BR/>It's lovely to have these beautifully written, candid and evocative responses. I can't tell you how honoured This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-70951737447390000672008-02-05T13:13:00.000+11:002008-02-05T13:13:00.000+11:00I'm with PC, Stephanie - this post hasn't sunk lik...I'm with PC, Stephanie - this post hasn't sunk like a stone for me. I'm mulling it over (and I chickened out of leaving the first comment).<BR/><BR/>* I don't really want to have children - everyone tells me I'll change my mind, but I have felt this way for long enough to be pretty sure, I think.<BR/>* And my partner, who already has a small child, DEFINITELY doesn't want any more children. <BR/>'signorina'https://www.blogger.com/profile/17552800884239465316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-16540565921240831312008-02-05T11:28:00.000+11:002008-02-05T11:28:00.000+11:00I dunno about sinking like a stone; I think you ha...I dunno about sinking like a stone; I think you have many people's breathless attention. Women who haven't been through it yet are apprehensive, women who have are grim, and most of your male readers are either nodding their heads sadly or competely squicked out. I'll never forget the time a woman we both know, ten years older than me, arrived at whatever the gathering was, joined a conversing Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-59086544484473342812008-02-05T10:50:00.000+11:002008-02-05T10:50:00.000+11:00Yes, I detect a "sinking like a stone" quality abo...Yes, I detect a "sinking like a stone" quality about this post. Much more exciting to talk about sexual politics and the risky invasion of personal territory!<BR/><BR/>But my dear, you are always engaging, witty and useful. And often positive, too.This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31107360.post-66214019863540481142008-02-05T10:39:00.000+11:002008-02-05T10:39:00.000+11:00I just wrote a long comment and then wiped it. Can...I just wrote a long comment and then wiped it. Can't think of a single engaging, witty, useful or positive thing to say about menopause. <BR/><BR/>Oh wait, yes I can. One really does care much less about what people think of one -- particularly about what men think of what one looks like. It's very liberating.Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.com