BLOGGY Brainstorming

[decodelighted]

A creative pal & I who go waaaaayyyyy back are considering working on a blog project together & we''ve been kicking around some ideas. Was wondering if my Pscope pals might weigh in & help me hash some things out.

Its not PC, but we''re both 40+ long time career women who''ve found themselves somewhat suddenly in the strange land of "child-free housewife". We''re unprepared, uncomfortable & lazier than we''d like to admit. Its kind of funny, but maybe only to us? Maybe its not so sympathetic? I''m trying to get some perspective. We''d both much rather be working but our freelance gigs have slowed to a halt in this economy & even part-time retail/temp/etc jobs are impossible to find. We''re both so lucky that our SO''s are working & can float us temporarily ... so we wouldn''t be having a large scale whinefest. Its more: this is absurdly 180 degrees from where we were five years ago or where we''d EVER thought we''d be. Fish out of water kind of thing.

So my questions are:

1) would you possibly find the exploits of ridiculously child-free new age "housewives" funny? (Or just indulgent navel gazing)

2) would you be turned off by the idea of embracing "laziness" ... i.e. "Lazy Gal Dinners" "Lazy Gal Decorating" "Lazy Gal Romance" "Lazy Gal Housework" "Lazy Gal Penny Pinching"

Maybe the combo of the two is too much? Like, if we "get" to be "housewives" at least we should be Energetic & Excited & Perfectionsitic about it? Thoughts?

**ducking already ** (but I can take it

)

 

[princesss]

Indulgent naval gazing can be amusing, but it usually requires (more than) a little ironic distance. It might take a while to get the tone right, but it''s worth a shot!

FWIW, I''d read it.

 

[AmberGretchen]

I agree its worth a shot, but I think that something with some element of productivity and/or relevance to the current situation would probably be more "marketable." By that I mean the penny-pinching idea (as many people are probably looking for ways to do that right now), and/or developing a new skill, such as cooking - these would be the things I would guess would appeal to people the most in the current climate.

ETA: ADORABLE new avatar - she is such a cutie pie!

 

[TravelingGal]

Deco, it would all depend on the presentation and judging from your writing style here, you could make it work.

If it was "lazy" and indulgent, I''d probably think, what are these women doing? Maybe I''d be annoyed. But if it was lazy with a self deprecatiing tone and a wink showing that you know you really shouldn''t be lazy, then I would probably think it''s amusing, you know what I mean?

Humor is key!

 

[monarch64]

I''d be into reading anything to do with being a "Lazy Gal" but that''s mainly because I can revel in my laziness with the best of ''em. I think I would enjoy vicariously living a Lazy Gal lifestyle.

And your writing always cracks me up anyway, Deco.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/6/2009 1:13:24 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
I think that something with some element of productivity and/or relevance to the current situation would probably be more ''marketable.'' By that I mean the penny-pinching idea (as many people are probably looking for ways to do that right now), and/or developing a new skill, such as cooking - these would be the things I would guess would appeal to people the most in the current climate.

GREAT point!! I think we both are really trying very hard to learn new skills & save $ and do all the things everybody else is trying to all of a sudden. (Which is why I related personally to the "Poor Need To Get Better at Being Poor" thread

) What we''re reacting to is that most blogs & articles come at things from a Perfectionistic Magazine Perfect perspective that can overwhelm & make people (me) feel worse than when I started. Like I''ll never measure up! Our idea would be to embrace the "better is the enemy of good" school of thought -- do a little, what can it hurt? Its okay to just do what you can do. Life doesn''t need to be magazine perfect to be special/unique/comfie/satisfying.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/6/2009 1:07:09 PM
Author: princesss
Indulgent naval gazing can be amusing, but it usually requires (more than) a little ironic distance. It might take a while to get the tone right, but it''s worth a shot!

FWIW, I''d read it.

Thanks Princesss ... agree totally about the ironic distance. We''d probably keep it private for a while until we were happy with the tone/direction.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/6/2009 1:14:05 PM
Author: TravelingGal
If it was ''lazy'' and indulgent, I''d probably think, what are these women doing? Maybe I''d be annoyed.

Me too! It would be a challenging balancing act to find the humor & keep it relevant to a wide enough audience to make the project successful. You can''t please everyone but I don''t relish the idea of pitchforks & hellfire either

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/6/2009 1:22:14 PM
Author: monarch64
I''d be into reading anything to do with being a ''Lazy Gal'' but that''s mainly because I can revel in my laziness with the best of ''em. I think I would enjoy vicariously living a Lazy Gal lifestyle.

And your writing always cracks me up anyway, Deco.

Thanks Monarch. My pal has reservations about the word "lazy" because its skews negative. For me its a relief to admit ... like letting a big old breath out ... "I''m lazy!" Lazy can lead to ingenuity ... forethought ... long term planning for optimal relaxation later. IMHO.

 

[April20]

If it had the right humor and tone I would totally read it. I found myself unemployed last summer after I was laid off. I''m in my early 30s, married, no children. Somehow I was busy all day, but didn''t really get that much done. It''s amazing how that works. That being said, i relate to where you''d be coming from to some degree. I went back to work full time a couple months after being laid off, but man, the glory days of nothing to do were great for a while.

 

[oobiecoo]

Like April20 said, it if had the right tone and humor then I think it could be catchy. And judging by your posts, I''m guessing it WILL have the tone and humor! I also agree with what AmberGretchen said about adding something productive. Overall, I''m pretty sure I would read it... and I''m not even at that sort of point in my life!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

This late-30''s child-free sometimes lazy housewife would read it!

But yes, i can understand the negative connotation that "lazy" can have. It all depends how it''s used.

 

[Elmorton]

Read the Bergdorff Blondes if you haven''t yet - I think it captures the writing style others have discussed. The characters are a little spoiled, but sweet, a little naive, likeable, and wildly entertaining.

I agree with everyone else - depends on how it''s presented. Whiny - probably not going to go anywhere. A little comedic (yanno, poking some fun at yourselves, but not too much that it sounds like you''re down on yourself) and it could be really enjoyable.

Good luck! Sounds like a fun adventure regardless of how it turns out.

 

[Kaleigh]

With your humor and wit? Bring it on please!!! I need something refreshing. You''re onto something. Can''t wait to hear more.

 

[JulieN]

1. it's worth giving a shot. it all depends on the delivery.

2. no, I'm absolutely not interested in embracing lazy cooking. Food is expensive. There are lots of people who go hungry or don't have access to healthy or fresh food. Farmers are rioting because prices for their products have gone down. The cost to our environment to farm is very expensive (the whole thing about the beef industry producing more methane gas that contributes to global warming than cars do.) I'm all for respecting your ingredients. For example, a blog that I detest is http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. However, the writer has an very large following in the blogosphere. She even has a cookbook deal! Crockpots are not lazy in themselves. But this woman, oh, dear, the horrors...

If you look at the pictures, there's a lot of things like dried herbs, hardly any veggies... she de-skinned a chicken and then plunked it into a crockpot. She has no respect for ingredients and where they came from, and has no philosophy about food other than that it goes into a crockpot. I'm not happy about her book deal; it puts food back 3 or 4 decades.

Lazy Gal Romance/Decorating/Cleaning might be fun and interesting. But it can't be totally lazy...you have to clearly have a passion for it to work. (Like, the crockpot blog writer actually seems pretty passionate about what she does-I just detest it.) And passion doesn't mean that your efforts have to result in perfection. As long as you can avoid seeming like "How to Justify Yourself to Your Working Husband in 30 Minutes or Less," it sounds good to me.