LAmom

THE KVETCH INDEX

Do we bloggers complain excessively?  Are we always bashing wrongdoers while ignoring the good around us?

I wonder this about myself sometimes, so I conducted a little survey, which I am calling the Kvetch Index.  In my very unscientific sample, I went through my blogroll, which is listed in my left sidebar.  I did not include the links that I have categorized as Information Blogs.  For each blog, I looked at the posts that were currently visible on their front page at the time that I dropped by (either yesterday or today).  I excluded posts where people were talking about their personal lives, and I left out some of the farcical stuff.  I made a judgment call on whether I considered each remaining post to be:

• Positive: Primarily expressing approval of a person or event.  This includes praising the efforts of someone who takes action against a negative force.
• Neutral: Information, insights, or questions that weren't really positive or negative in tone.  I included in this category any calls to action concerning current events.
• Negative: Primarily expressing disapproval of a person or event.

The results?  Out of 250 posts, 71 (28%) were positive, 45 (18%) were neutral, and 136 (54%) were negative.

So we spend a significant amount of time complaining.  What does it mean?

Most of the blogs I read are by left-leaning types.  With Republicans in control of the government and a war going on, we have plenty to complain about.  The only (very few) conservatives I ever read are people who focus mainly on pro-life issues; and they, of course, have complaining to do about the high numbers of abortions that continue to take place.  What I'd like to do next is to find a blog that's at the opposite end of the spectrum from mine (a pro-choice conservative) and see what the Kvetch Index looks like on that person's blogroll.

Is it the current political situation, or is it just human nature?  Do we focus more on things that we want to see changed and less on things that are we think are OK?  Is it "cooler" to criticize than to applaud?  Any thoughts?

WRITE SOMETHING!

I've just added a new category for my blog: Whining.  Something I try not to do much, but today I'm doing it.

It's not that I don't feel like blogging.  It's just that I don't feel like blogging at this particular moment, and that's a problem.

My internet connection at home isn't working right, so I can only go online at my parents' house.  So right now, I'm sitting at my mother's desk.  I've checked my email, read a few choice blogs, and updated the PPJ homepage.  I wasn't planning to come here again tomorrow, and I have plans for the afternoon, so if I'm going to write any new blog entries, I have to do it NOW!  I can't wait for inspiration to come in the middle of the night.  I need to get inspired before 1:30 pm.

Only I'm really tired right now after being up very late last night doing homework with DL.  I'm also hungry and nothing in my mom's Atkins-friendly cupboard really works with my meat-about-once-a-week food preferences.

The real problem here, the elephant in the middle of the room, is the fact that my computer needs to be either upgraded or replaced.  I got my PC as a Christmas present some years ago.  I couldn't afford to buy myself a computer then, and I can't afford to buy one now.  But maybe a little more memory or something will get me back on my feet.  I have no idea how much that would cost.

In the meantime, read about the 95/10 initiative on the Democrats for Life web site.  It's a demand-side (mostly) approach to reducing the number of abortions in this country.  And read about Brandon's poverty challenge in conjunction with Africa Malaria Day.  And find out where you rank in the Forbes 6,000,000,000 over at The Gutless Pacifist.  And Xpatriated Texan has some good stuff about the history of the progressive movement.

I'll be at home.  When inspiration hits, I'll have to write my ideas down on (gasp!) paper and blog them Saturday or Sunday.  See y'all in a couple of days.

UPDATE -- I've discovered that I can use the old dial-up connection and it doesn't run at a snail's pace and crash constantly.  Would that still be consistent with the idea that the problem I was having with the other connection (DSL with built-in firewall, virus scan, etc.) was memory-related?  Anyway, it's good to be online at home again.  I'll get interrupted every time we get a phone call, but I can live with that for the time being.