The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem.

Signs that you're investing way too much time into your blog:

1. Using the word "awesomesauce" outside of the blogosphere.

2. Trying to explain the origin of "awesomesauce" only to realize you're suddenly alone. Horribly alone..

3. Thinking you're all kinds of creative for dressing up as a Sprite's Catcher for Halloween when everyone actually thinks you're all kinds of delusional for grabbing a birdcage and Tinker Bell figurines and trying to masquerade pudding as mousse. (And don't even think of trying to explain the entire Sprite's Keeper thing or coworkers may find out more about you than you wanted.)

4. Repeatedly warning people you photograph that they may end up as blog fodder and their true actions may be changed to better suit your desires, no matter how silly they look.

5. Putting people like, um, every single person on your blogroll, on a virtual pedestal and referring to them as cyber-celebrities.

6. Getting upset when actual work comes in as it distracts you from the POST THAT MUST BE FINISHED NOW!!!!

7. Trying to be FIRST! in the comments.

8. Trying to be SECOND! in the comments. (Let's just say everything in the Top 5 and be done with it.)

9. Spending way too much time in the comments section thinking of something witty to write so the site's blogger can acknowledge you.

10. Going back to the comments section of the blog you were at to re-read what you had written just to crack yourself up again and see if anyone else found a LOL out of it too.

11. Starting a comment war in the comments section. (Yeah, Heidi, I'm STILL sorry for my mom and I hijacking your comments section that one time..)

12. Cursing another blogger for writing and posting the same exact story you were going to post, unfortunately they published it first. And theirs was better.

13. The sudden realization that even though blogging and World Of Warcraft are very different entities, they are eerily too similar as modems of time suck.

14. The knowledge that you are addicted does not come as a particular surprise to you and the concession that you will refuse any and all help for this addiction of yours is rather relieving.

15. Your blogroll being longer than your Holiday card mailing list. (Although it IS easier to spam out a Happy Holidays greeting to everyone than lick an envelope. And my handwriting is pretty atrocious. One year, people thought I had written out Happy Hooverdays, either welcoming the second coming of a long past president or soliciting vaccuum sales.) (Ya know, I never got the commission for those Hoover pushes?)

16. Welcoming Google Reader into your life with the intention of streamlining your blogroll checking, but ultimately stalking the refresh button so you can be FIRST in the comments. (See #7)

17. When your mate ends every conversation with, "Is this going in the blog?"

18. Posting every day for 9 months straight and realizing that although you're not proving anything to anyone but yourself, it must still be done which only further strengthens the arguement that you should really talk to someone, although you have foreseen that internal arguement and came back with the fact that talking to the blogosphere IS therapy and all your IRL (in real life) people will probably thank your blogging buddies for making you a little more sane.

19. Run-on sentences. (See #18)

20. Recognizing the crushing depression when no one comments.

21. Feeling the euphoric elation when your comments section blows up.

22. Realizing you need to end this list, but not being able to because of your OCD tendencies to make everything end at a natural point like 10 or 20 or even 30, but you just had to push that limit, didn't you?

23. Just ending the list and living with it, knowing you could always go back and add or subtract and no one would be the wiser.

24. Realizing that going back into a published post would ruin the integrity of the post.

25. Letting a tangent completely overtake the list. (See #22, 23, 24)

26. Thinking # 25 is just fine for ending the list on a rounded number.

27. Damn it!

Posted in connection with:

Go on over to abdpbt and check it out. Anna makes L.A. look a little more human one post at a time.

Comments

[Casey]

Ha! I could have totally written that post but alas, you wrote it first. And you wrote it better. Damn it! You're very Monk-ish if you have to get to 20 or 30. Don't worry, I would have been crazy to not get there too...
And BTW, we ARE blogging celebrities and that's just awesomesauce.

[Deemarie]

Problem? I don't have a problem. I can quit anytime. I mean it. The fact that I logged into my Google Reader before my work email is irrelevent!!!
You are totally an awesomesauce celebrity. Don't deny it. Hugs.

[carrie]

I totally feeel your pain. Eli told me awesomesauce is not a real word..... he asked his teacher....
Oh, I had something like this is drafts .........Do-oh' I guess I will wait a few weeks before I post mine.

[Arwen]

The celebrity one is where you realy get me. I don't know how many times I've said, "Oh my gosh, ______ just commented on our blog. We've hit the big time, honey!"

"Uh yeah, that's great, sweetie..."

[cyndi]

You rock. Thanx for making the blogosphere such a fun and beautiful place (I'm not being competitive, honest, just truthful and pushing your compliment issues into the lite) Love ya!

[cyndi]

and if somebody more articulate than I can run with this one, my comment verification word was nzJAM today ;-)

[Jacqueline]

I love me some run-on sentences, commas make it all okay. I just can't quit you, run-on sentence!

[WickedStepMom]

Thank you for the morning giggle. I am with Deemarie... what problem? I don't have a problem. Are you trying to imply that we have problems?

[Cameron]

Love it, awesome list, and so true. I have been become completely addicted, in like two months.

[bessie.viola]

Dude, this is so true. I haven't signed up for google reader yet because I fear for my sanity...

And I also need to end lists with a nice round number. :)

[HeatherPride]

I thought google reader would make me happy - instead I have a mini heart attack when I see how much reading I have to do! Ha!

[Sammanthia]

I'll see you in rehab. Hey, wouldn't that make a funny post?

[Mama Dawg]

The list was great, but made even better by the last several points. LOL!

[Michele]

Isn't there a 12-step program because I so need to go. Meet you there.

[Michele]

Isn't there a 12-step program because I so need to go. Meet you there.

[Laurie]

Do I have to meet all 25 criteria to be classified as addicted? 9,10,12,21...that's me. Or maybe I'm just in denial on the rest of them!

[Katie]

Hi my name is Katie and I am an blogaholic and it is my life goal to one day write an entire post that is one big run on sentence.

[The Stiletto Mom]

Why are you writing about me? WHY? Have you been observing me secretly? :)

Sadly, I can agree with almost every statement above and have been there, done that. We are a crazy group of people to be sure!!!

[goodfather]

This post is awesomesauce! Great post! I just made the comment the other day about how WOW and blogging are virtually the same time commitment.

[jen]

wow...i write lists all the time! and never knew i could be a part of something!!! i'll have to check out that abdpbt site...

i totally understand the addiction. my mom mentioned that my g-ma was having delusions again. i asked if any of them were blog-worthy...

[Laufa]

#13 & #17 are so me too. That's why my hubby is ok with the time suck!

[jen]

yes...i have tips for you.
bubbles and stickers.
ice cream and sprinkles.
beer and wine.
advil and tylenol.
have you ever rented a bounce castle? no joke. best rental ever.

[steph]

It would only qualify as a problem if I had actual work I was expected to do. I mean to say the work would be a problem, not the blogoholism.

[Jim]

Wow, it seems I have a problem. You forgot "accidentally clicking the 'mark all as read' button in google reader when in the 'all items' section and panicking."

Maybe I'm the only one...

[Heather]

Right there with you on #9 and #10! :)
See...this took me hours to think of! :)