Motorcycle Blog – A Dinosaur Paradise

Fuzzygalore Motorcycle Blog - 2016 Yamaha FZ07

As a long time motorcycle blog author, I have questions.

The other day while talking to my daughter (20), I asked her if she read any blogs. Her tepid response was a sing-songy “not reaaaallllly.” Not really. Yep, not really. Over the course of my internet lifetime things sure have changed. Traditional hobbyist bloggers are dinosaurs.

Remember when Facebook was new and “fun”? Its smoldering carcass is an echo chamber for shit politics and I don’t even know what. Useless garbage.

It’s been that way for years but now it feels like it’s on its last swirl circling the drain. I give it a cursory glance each day and more often than not find myself thinking, oh, who cares? about the majority of the crap the algorithm thinks I want to see.

Instagram isn’t too far behind on the apathy scale. Scroll, habit-scroll, habit-scroll. Most of the time I don’t want to participate. I don’t want to share. I don’t want to care. Maybe I’ve just reached my saturation point, I dunno.

So much of the Instagram experience feels phony – where bodies are displayed as a commodity under the guise of talking about van life, or motorcycles, or travel, that I just… blah. I super don’t care about anyone else’s boobs. Like, at all. If I want to see relatable or inspiring photos of women traveling, having the images served up with what?-no!-its-totally-not-intentional cleavage is such a turn off.

We’re never moving beyond the need to sexualize and titillate for relevance, are we? It works. Every. Fucking. Time.

In some way I feel like I’ve allowed myself to be numbed out, and my thinkin’ muscle to get weak. All I do is cram more of this useless nonsense into the spaces where curiosity should be toiling away. I’m slowly smothering my imagination with a walrus-lost-his-bucket meme’d pillow.

And I hate myself for continuing to participate in something that doesn’t bring me joy. Because social media definitely doesn’t do that. But, because blogs are typically passive, if I don’t leverage social media to remind people that I exist the chances are pretty good that I’ll miss out on reach opportunities. At least that’s the excuse I tell myself. I’m a whining hypocrite.

Maybe I need to reevaluate for the eleventy millionth time why I write these posts. Would it truly matter if no one read them? Is the real key to it all that the satisfaction and purpose is solely in the doing? And once the word baby flies away to the world at large, my job is over. If a post was not read by someone would I still get what I came for?

Or maybe the pendulum needs to swing wildly in the opposite direction – I should post cleavage shots next to my motorcycle and STFU. Because Likes = Love. Or something.

Don’t mind me. I’ll just be over here petting my brontosaurus.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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11 Responses

  1. Ted Kettler says:

    STFU….. you’re awesome and keep up the inspirationally entertainingly (?) great work. Ride more, whine less.

  2. Mark H says:

    Social Media? Who cares! People like your blog and roadside curiosities, just keep going with it. Many of us are put off by those crappy tittilation videos etc.
    Dinosaurs kicked ass for a long time!!
    Best Regards
    M

  3. Dan Diego says:

    Couldn’t agree more with most of what you’re saying, especially this: “And I hate myself for continuing to participate in something that doesn’t bring me joy. Because social media definitely doesn’t do that.” That’s me with FB/IG. Ugh…

    I sure do appreciate your prehistoric blog, tho.

  4. Shybiker says:

    With a lifetime of experience living in a social cesspool, I’ve learned not to look for happiness in the reactions of others but, instead, to find it in my own activity. Blogging is a prime example now that its popularity has waned and only the hard-core are left with vastly diminished audiences. We have to act for ourselves, not others, and seek pleasure from intrinsic joys. (We know you understand this: motorcycle-riding is a good example.)

    Once you detach from the herd, you’re no longer subject to its culture. And contemporary culture, as you note, keeps sinking into ugly depravity.

    Don’t be afraid to be the last person saying what you truly think.

  5. Bob B says:

    I’ve never done tweeter or facepage, and never will. I don’t have the bandwidth in my brain to deal with it and feel I’m better off. Your blog puts a smile on my face, as I think we are LMS’s(like minded souls). Please do what you do for your own joy and the joy it brings others. Bob

  6. A fine post Fuzz. It captures a lot of the angst I have around being a blogger now for over 15 years. I seem to continually ask myself why I am investing my time creating posts. I don’t make any money blogging. And growth of visitors, followers, and traffic is pretty much been stagnant for half a decade. And if likes equals love then no one loves me anymore.

    While I have no cleavage to share myself I’ve certainly watched some social media accounts grow rapidly with the inclusion of flesh. From travel to van life to whatever, add some sex and the followers skyrocket as people (men I suspect) tune in to see if this time there will be more skin.

    I could be way off base but that’s how it seems. Little substance, just stimulation.

    At the end of the day, when I ask why I continue to blog when as you say blogging seems to be swirling down the drain I can only say I still enjoy doing it for myself. Creating pictures and writing text expands my experience of the ride. Could I do it without posting it on a blog publically? Sure. But the small interaction I receive, the love, is a motivating factor. And I’ve learned a lot from the people who follow and comment — directly through their comments, and indirectly in the rabbit holes they inspire me to go down.

    Why are you still blogging Fuzz? And what color is your hair now??

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      Why, indeed. I always come back to something similar to what you’re experiencing, i guess. I too learn so much from the insight of others and appreciate their appreciation. It makes me feel good.

      I think the main driver is that it is a personal creative outlet, something akin to a release valve. Almost like a conversation that I have with another version of myself that I let other people eavesdrop on. Sometimes when i read old posts, it like someone else wrote them. It isn’t the me that’s sitting in my living room after a shit day at work. As goofy as they may seem at times, they are cathartic to some degree.

      One of my quirks is that if you talk to me about my blog in person I find it incredibly embarrassing. Not sure what that’s about.

      This mop? It is currently mostly black with a bit of neon pink 😀

  7. Mike says:

    We do whatever we think might give us pleasure, and when it doesn’t or its not enough we try again. Fear, boredom and the search for happiness take us in circles. Its as if you took a ride and only made left turns.

  8. John Persons says:

    Without weighing in on my dislike of social media platforms, I’m really glad to see you posting again Fuzz! I’ve missed reading about your travel exploits and the photos that accompany them.

    +1 on Steve’s closing comments. Writing and sharing your thoughts about anything you are passionate about helps to extend the enjoyment you got from that given moment.

  9. Mike says:

    Blogging may not be the hippest or most up to date form of online media these days, but I’m grateful you’re still doing it. I love reading your stuff and hope you continue to do this for a long time. Thanks for all your effort.

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