Is there anything more literally ephemeral than blogging? My Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the one that came with a magnifying glass, because the Compact Edition "micrographically" squeezes so much into two volumes, illuminates this ephemeral business.
Blog readers (and blog writers) (are both blog readers and blog writers called bloggers?) typically fixate on the latest, the most recent, post. More or less. How often does anyone stretch back into the archives to explore a particular blogger's oeuvre? Relatively rare, right? I mean, like who has the time (assuming one is gainfully employed and performing one's prescribed duties; why do I suddenly sound so feckin snotty and uppercrust British? Is it the dust from the OED?)?
According to the OED, an ephemeris is (or was), among other things:
a daily diary
a table showing the predicted position of a heavenly body for every day (I'm picturing a Salma Hayek Kama Sutra Educational Desk Calendar with 365 exquisite photos)
any almanac or calendar (if you insist, yes, it could be a swimsuit calendar, cheescake or beefcake genre, to be fair and balanced)
the appointed daily order of religious services (well, no surprise here; like Leonard Cohen, I can see how sex and religion easily get intertwined, like bodies on a hot night, or like clouds of incense rising to the heavens)
So, of course, an ephemerist is one who makes use of an ephemeris (as in blogging).
And ephemera literally refers to "lasting for a day," originally describing a fever or a type of insect.
We got the fever.
We are the ephemeral, the diurnal insects of cyberworld, liable to be squashed any nanosecond by a server meltdown or cybercollapse.
We bloggers are truly The Ephemerists.
Here today. Gone tomorrow. (Unless you're into archives.)
Laugh. Or....
Else.
Pooof!
P.S. Speaking of diurnal, in browsing through my OED I discovered that a diurnalist is another word for a journalist. Makes sense. Carry on. As you were. See you tomorrow. Or another day. Cheerio.
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23 comments:
I just saw a commercial for the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Ephemeris. Er, what? Sounds like I could be going to jail for that. Oh well.
BTW, thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate it, thought I would do the same. I've enjoyed what I've read. I'm going to add you to my links, if that's ok.
Ephemerists.
Lovely. Sounds so much more elegant than "bloggers." Are we ephemering then? But you kinda spoiled the romantic image because of the idea of server meltdowns.
I read somewhere that bloggers will be the philosphers of the future...
I don't know whether to be worried or gald I won't be there.
I don't blog on weekends. That's when I go through blogrolls and archives.
if a diurnalist is another word for journalist
what is a diurinist another word for
speaking of the ephemeral while searching the internet for a copy of the Salma Hayek Kama Sutra heavenly body
I like to go back and see what other people have written before... sometimes I want to post a comment but think it stupid because who is going back and checking for any new comments on old posts? except for me cuz I'm weird like that. Great post today
i like to think of myself as a forward thinker
so what good would it do me going back in time - anyone's time?
see ya tomorrow...
I hate the work blog. I've blogged about it. It sounds like something my Grandmother made us eat and you couldn't hide under your napkin.
Oh my goodness I am posting after a nun... dear mother of GOD.
Just when I was about to tell you to take it easy 365 days of Salma Hayak explaing by showing the Karma Sutra... could kill a man.
Plus.. I have come accoustomed to reading your "blog" / "diary" (lol) / whatever other 4 syllable word you can come up with! :)
I am nosey... I dig back into the archives just to see who you were when you first started and who you are now...
Rarely if ever are the people the same!
Be well... sorry for all the words...
Forgive me Sister Mary for the coment up above.
~M Laugh Love be FEARLESS
Don't mention "server meltdown" ever again. I haven't saved anything, and I'm sure nobody else is archiving my material, unless they're thinking of taking me to court.
El Ephemeristo,
What a great post. It's funny that we can work so hard to post every single day and the next day it's archived possibly to never be read again. I like cruising the archives (sounds like some sick way of hitting on elderly women, doesn't it??) as it tends to really help me understand the blogger, er ephemerist better.
Michael,
Cruising the archives. I love it. You are a more dedicated or more outgoing soul than I. But I declare right in my banner the solipsism that drives me, alas.
pk
I reread your banner and yep, you put it all out there. By the way, I can't believe our Dodgers and Giants end the season playing each other..no matter what happens, I promise not to make it personal ;-)
Michael,
I have modest hopes (what a liar) for my Giants. Do you think Dusty Baker, former Giants AND Dodger, was gloating at his Cubs' come-from-behind victory today? I won't make it personal. As a kid, my best friend was a Dodgers' fan. And we never argued (haven't I learned anything from Proust? or Virginia Woolf, whom i am now reading?) If my boyz get in the playoffs, I can relax. We'll be in Ireland!
I can't take claim for "fucktard"... that fame falls to Jennster (there is a link to her blog on my blogroll).
I will now take out my dictionary (the cheap Webster's one) and read through your archives.
I love archives...
Thank you for visitng my blog and for your comment and for the improvement to my vocabulary.
Don't shudder at my grammar... I have an editor in real life.
And I thought a diurnal was a place for 2 guys to pee at the same time. Glad I bought that dicshunary at the flea market the other day. Yall is doin wunders fer my vokabulerry.
Later yall.....
(ok ok it was a redneck thing, No hot emails ok?)
Ephemerist,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I followed the crumbs back and found your most intriguing site.
I read archives if the current post is sufficiently interesting. It helps me to understand the context from which someone posts. But I love to read (and write,) so I'm probably in the minority.
I'm sure "blogger" does refer to both writers and readers because I started mine this June but my profile says I've been on Blogger since January, when I began commenting on other peoples' blogs. If I had called myself something else back then, my profile would doubtless reflect accurately how long I've had my own.
(This is not a matter of concern for me.)
I'm pretty sure that "blogger" refers to the person writing the blog.
Let's ask Sister Mary Martha. If you can't rely on a make believe nun, who CAN you rely on? What do you think, Sista Eminem?
Oh, cool, you mentioned a nice breakfast food right at the end there :o)
Maybe we should get t-shirts made with The Ephemerists on them?
Great idea for my store! (But what would I know about great money-making ideas). Want to share in the profits? (PROFITS?? as of my this would cost you) . . . but, if you send me a jpeg, I'll put it on www.laughorism.com, really, and we'll go from there
You've singled out a glaring flaw of blogs -- no good way to cruise archives, at least not on Blogger templates. Sidebars are inconsistent and not easy to navigate. I think tags help a bit.
Think of it this way, if someone takes the time to backlog on your blog, they must really dig your work. In the fast pace what's next world of internet, it's a high form of flattery!
Carry on- you have a great blog...I still like to think that we bloggers will have an eternal effect...I guess that makes me an eternal optimist....
I give birth to interpret a only one of the articles on your website at this very moment, and I really like your line of blogging. I added it to my favorites entanglement page list and last will and testament be checking stand behind soon. Divert contain in view my position as approvingly and leave to me be acquainted with what you think. Thanks.
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