Why?

Questions looking for answers...

As a kid, did you ever ask someone why the sky is blue?

In our internet enabled society, we can now easily find answers to our most compelling questions. (Of course, the answers may be wrong, but that's a whole other thing altogether.) It's oddly reassuring, however, to know that some questions may be without answers because no one truly knows.

Perhaps in keeping with the world being in a tailspin right now — and quite honestly, I don't want to focus on that here — today's post is a grab bag of "why" questions that have been poking around my brain for some time. In case I never get the opportunity to glean some answers to them, I'm sharing them with you this week.

Perhaps you have answers.

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Why have sewing related link parties gone the way of the dinosaur?

In all fairness, the cost of running linky parties has increased over the years and I can't honestly expect bloggers to keep funding them if they don't get good participation... or if they ultimately feel as though they are paying to encourage people to visit other blogs. (Yes, that's the irony of link parties.) But while there are still a handful of active parties out there, none of the ones that I'm familiar with are focused on sewing and that lack of focus makes me avoid them.

A free for all link party just doesn't work, in my humble opinion. All they manage to achieve is a bunch of bloggers dropping links and then scurrying off. Even in cases where you might get "featured" by the blogger running the party, there is no appreciable uptick in traffic.

The last "sewing only" link party that was truly great (and generated decent traffic) came to an abrupt end last May. I miss it.

Why do some bloggers ignore comments?

I don't get this one. From my perspective, when someone leaves me a comment — especially for the first time — I'm over the moon that the person feels strongly enough about what I've written to engage with me. Unless the comment is abusive, I cannot fathom not responding to it.

In my desire to keep up my own little "thank your favourite bloggers day" tradition, whenever I find a blog that holds my interest through several posts, I leave a substantial message for the blogger. I'm talking a paragraph consisting of several sentences, not just a simple "I like your blog", which really doesn't invite a response.

But twice in the past two years, I've been effusive with my praise, only to have it hang out there "like a pretty big matzo ball" — to paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld — while the recipient stays silent. For the record, both blogs were/are currently active with few comments; i.e., I doubt the blogger was inundated with them.

It makes me hesitant about leaving a first time comment on a blog. And being a blogger myself, that's just not a desirable outcome.

Why are master bedroom ensuites with no doors a trend?

It's bad enough that today's modern families feel the need for four thousand square foot homes when forty and fifty years ago, larger families made do with houses one quarter that size.

image courtesy of Twitter...

What truly baffles me with all that additional space is the trend towards spa-like ensuites that open directly into the master bedroom. No doors separating the bath, shower — or even toilet in some cases — from the sleeping area. Why is this a thing?

Really, how much openness and sharing do we really want or need?

The sound of someone using the toilet (in the dark?) in the middle of the night is something you want to hear? These couples have the exact same schedules for getting up and going to bed that the typically bright lights of a bathroom vanity aren't bothersome?

[I didn't realize until I went searching for an image to accompany this question that I'm certainly not the only one asking!]

Why do people down vote YouTube videos featuring free tutorials?

Why do people down vote
positive things?

It's no surprise that the internet is full of trolls, but don't you wonder about the inordinate meanness that's often demonstrated in the most innocuous of circumstances?

Virtually every one of the YouTube tutorials that I've ever bothered to "up vote" has corresponding down votes for it. And not just one or two; it's over ten, over twenty. It's someone creating something, sharing it with the world for free and getting slapped in return.

What goes on in the mind of a person who responds like that?

Why does proper grammar no longer matter?

Cursive handwriting is no longer being taught in many schools. Phonics are a thing of the past. We are totally used to people saying, "Me and her are going to the mall."

::cringe::

I understand that language and linguistics change over the years. After all, we no longer speak as they did in Shakespeare's time. But as someone who has always had an ear for proper grammar, it's a sad sign of the times when a TV ad closes with "call me or my team" and it strikes me as sounding odd... even though it's grammatically correct.

Apparently so many people are using the incorrect variant of "call myself or my team" that it's become normal to hear... even to me.

::sigh::

And on that note....

Why is "sewist" a word?

Okay, I get it that some don't like the actual (correct) word "sewer" because the word also has another meaning, but get a grip, people, it's also pronounced differently in that situation. The two words are heteronyms. (And no, I'm not a smartypants who knew that term; I had to look it up.)

Context matters! And in spoken conversation, absolutely no one is going to be confused as to your meaning when you say, "I am a sewer"... unless you pronounce it wrong.

"Sewist" just sounds weird and made up. I know there are artists, cyclists, dentists, therapists and others, but we don't extend that -ist thing to craftists , bakists , workists , trainists, and drivists.

Oh, and to answer my own question, "sewist" is not a word, unless one's definition of a word is simply that some people use it. (Which may be the new normal given my previous question.)

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Why are you still on Facebook?

A short while ago, a fellow sewing/crafting blogger was flagged by Facebook as having violated their "community standards". It was another example of how large corporate entities can screw you with terms and conditions that are nigh impossible for you to fight, mainly because you have no rights to speak of when you choose to use a service, particularly in a non-paying situation. This particular blogger decided that enough was enough and stepped away from Facebook entirely.

I think more of us should do just that.

Why? Because when good people do nothing to stop bad behaviour, it enables bad people to double down on questionable agendas. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several years, you know that the world order is tracking along a dangerous precipice relative to that very idea.

I'm not going to enumerate all of the issues that have dogged the social media giant over the past few years (you can conduct your own unbiased research on that), but there comes a point when each of us — looking out for the good of society — needs to take a stand and say, that's it; I'm not going to allow a corporation without morals to influence my thoughts to the point where I no longer know I've been influenced. That's right: the harm that Facebook can do to you may have already been done, depending on how often you've chosen to absorb and share news on that platform. And it almost goes without saying that right now is an especially perilous time to be spreading the wrong information.

The truth is that what's good for Facebook may not be good for you... and everything points to the company continuing to focus only on what's good for it.

Why do I get anxious whenever I have fewer than four blog posts queued up?

There's no good answer to that one. Maybe when it comes to blogging, I like to plan ahead... really ahead.

But the anxiety level is relatively low, all things considered. ;-)

With that said, my questioning is done and I welcome your feedback and answers. Or perhaps, even your own questions.