Monday, August 20, 2007

A Musing Dilemma



Musing. Definition:

muse/myuz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[myooz] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, mused, mus·ing.
–verb (used without object)
1.
to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.
2.
Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly. –verb (used with object)
3.
to meditate on.
4.
to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.
[Origin: 1300–50; ME musen to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished <>muzzle]


from: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)



Ok when I first started this blog, I put about ten seconds of thought into the title, picking words that I thought would be interesting and unique, just like me. I like the word musing as I feel it adequately describes my thoughtful yet humorous ponderings transcribed to this blog.

It took about a week of sifting through other's blogs before I found how sadly wrong I was. I am not a zen wordsmith, I am just another schmuck who used a neato word to show how verbose I am.

The word "Musing" may be the most overused non-lingo word out there in the Blogosphere.

Reading other sites with the word musing in it, I came to realize that "musing" apparently has a wide variety of definitions as well. One man's musing is another man's irritating rant, or more likely a thinly veiled (like prosciutto thin, at best) marketing pitch.

The Current Stats from my
www.bloglog.com: 15 bloggers with musing in the name, 781 sites ID'd as part of the Musing community.


Here are some of my favorites in my brief research:


Caustic Musings: http://maggiewang.com/ a promising name, but without the really acidic writing I was hoping for. Plenty of delicious meals and hardcore exercise regimens, however.


Fireplace musings: http://fireplacemusings.blogspot.com/ an actual muser of of New Zealand that I enjoy.


Amy's Musings http://www.amysmusings.com/ - A mommy blog, one of many I enjoy, for no reason I can adequately explain.

A Musing D'Bergeracs
http://bakeryofthepoets.blogspot.com/ - a diary blog of sorts with a font I hate.

Merri Musings:
http://www.merrimusings.mu.nu/ Current news stories mixed with yummy sarcasm for flavor.

Black musing sheep.
http://shinmiao.blogspot.com/ Don't know what to make of this one, but I do enjoy the name. Do black sheep muse?

Here are some ones that I have trouble understanding how "Musing" became affixed in their title:


Bittersweet Musings: http://sugar.splitsys.com/ Technical and Xenophobic


Business Musings: http://www.businessmusings.com/ WSJ with musing, if musing is to be regarded as any opinion whatsoever.


Collegiate Musings: http://collegiatemusings.com/ Not even trying to pretend it's a blog, just a passthru to a linkfarm. (or mabye linkghetto)


Divakar's Musings: http://divakar.blog.com/ A daily affirmation blog best describes it, I think.


Any other musings out there I just have to add to the list?


So, do I take musing off the title of this blog so I won't be lumped in with others that I find less than amusing? (yuk yuk) Or do I keep it as a shining beacon to the standard of what true musing should be? Thoughts from my loyal reader...er..readers?


SA





7 comments:

Shannon O'Brien said...

I must not visit many "musing" blogs as yours is the first I've read with "musing" in the title. And I must admit that the name of the blog is one of the reasons I stopped to read it, and then I enjoyed the first post, which is why I continue to stop by. I like the word "snarky" even more than "musing," but the two work well together. (in my humble opinion)

Graham said...

I had the same experience when I started. Must admit it was a spur of the moment decision to open a "blog". When looking for a name I thought 'Ramblings" was an original concept. It was not much fun to find there are thousands of "Ramblings". But, no sense in changing now.
My interpretation of "musing" was a kind of introspective, philosophical kind of "analysis" of something. Kind of thinking one does alone.
Regards
Graham

Dawn Drover said...

I love your humor. I did the same thing too. I not only started a blog without too much thought... I didn't even know how to blog! But that's me - jump first and think later!

Missy said...

lose 'musing'. it is the most over-used word in the blogosphere and i really dislike it. (much like 'ramblings' and 'random'.)

but keep 'snarky'. i love me some snark.

Joanne said...

LOLs, I hope you keep it...the snarky part of snarky musings is definitely original!

Hilary said...

Yes.. there's Remaindered Random Musings :)
http://fpbaron.blogspot.com/

Gerry Hatrić said...

Hah! I'm not a muser but a muller. Though I must confess to using musing in the sub title. I thought my name Mulled Vine was very cunning (musings on Christian topics) but have since then wondered if I was drinking wine at the time. Like your blog.