Little Mitt and Big Sissy

Kim Weidman stopped by the other day to interview us about the Blogger by the Sea. A lovely, classy young woman in black fitted leather jacket and casually sensuous black chenille (?) scarf, Kim's the reporter who did the cat-hoarding story we blogged awhile back, as well as the Chelsea Projections project that introduced us to our young friend and fellow Harvard Design Schooler Dan Adams. We are totally thrilled with Kim's article* -- fair and balanced.

Big-time fun for "Big Sissy," right top of fold in this week's local rag, the Chelsea Record. And look who's playing second fiddle, left partially above the fold: a possible future Leader of the Free World, our own Governor Romney:

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (right) greets Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash at the Boys and Girls Club, where the guv took part in the club's monthly breakfast series.

Not only that, but in the center of the Chelsea Record's front page, nestled between Mitt and Big Sissy, is an article about one of Tuck's civic projects, Chelsea Neighborhood Housing.

*Big Sissy isn't online, so we're typing it in and posting it here below the cyberfold. Now we're glad Goomp made us take that Katharine Gibbs secretarial course.

Despite being very popular on the Internet, Marginal Street resident Sissy Willis is camera shy (Kim Weidman photo)

Big Sissy

From her desk on Marginal Street, Sissy Willis brings pieces of Chelsea to the world, writes Chelsea Record reporter Kim Weidman:

Only on the Internet would a Chelsea resident find a worldwide readership that logs onto her blog daily to read views on such diverse subjects as politics, family, current events, the Chelsea waterfront and . . . cats. For a little more than a year, Marginal Street resident Sissy Willis has been updating her blog, Sisu, logging on two, three or four times a day to share her insightful, witty and often amusing commentary with anyone who cares to read it.  For Willis, as with many bloggers, it's become a hobby bordering on obsession.

"I just jumped in one day, and now I can't stop," she said.

As far as obsessions go, though, blogging is a fairly healthy one.  For the Internet clueless, a blog (a shortened form of the phrase "Web log") is a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page.  The phenomenon really took off after the September 11 tragedy, and this past fall, it was bloggers who helped discredit the "60 Minutes II" report that alleged George W. Bush got preferential treatment in the Texas Air National Guard.

Willis hasn't influenced national policy through her blog -- yet -- but she has found a loyal audience that reads, dissects and comments on her political briefs.  Recent topics about which she's opined include the "theory of a just war" and the Iraqi elections.  A self-described Libertarian with right-leaning views, Willis may be in the political minority in Democratic Chelsea, but in cyberspace, she's found many others who share her views.

Having a forum to express her views is what originally drew Willis into the blogosphere.

"Mainly, it's an opportunity to express your opinions, and the more you write, the better you get," Willis said.

A landscape architect with a background in design and photography, Willis also uses her blog as a place to post images she shoots with her digital camera.  With her view of the ever-changing salt pile and vessels coming in and out of port, one of her favorite photographic subjects is the Chelsea waterfront.

"Being by the ocean is everything.  It's very important to me," she said. "It's a working, honest waterfront."

Another favorite photographic subject is Willis' two cats, Baby and Tiny.  Cat blogging is a whole subculture on the Internet, and one of which Willis is a proud member.  She estimates that just as many readers log on to read about the adventures of her kitties as they do to catch up on current events.

Since Willis began blogging, she has gained an audience of about 500 who check in on a regular basis.  Some days, when one of Willis' posts is linked from another Web site, her hits go into the thousands.  And, like many bloggers, she always is striving to gain more recognitiion and bigger reader numbers for her site.

But Willis also cherishes the loyal circle of cyber-friends she "talks" to over the Internet regularly, but whom she has never met in person.  That doesn't make the connections she has with these people any less real, though.  For example, recently Willis posted on her blog a heartfelt remembrance of a family member who had died, and the condolences poured in from people she only knew through the Internet.

"Reading your blog makes me at least touch your family.  I don't know them all, but I like your little group with your two cats, your hubby and you," said one reader.

And that, Willis said, is what is unique about blogging, the fact that people from all over the world can connect intellectually and emotionally.

"It's not so much geographical location as the location of your thinking," she said.

Comments

[goomp]

The fun of fame and also for me the proud father. I am also proud of Kim for her fair and balanced reporting.

[Sissy Willis]

Thanks, Goomp. :)

[Teresa]

How wonderful! Congratulations to Kim for catching not only the essence of blogging, but the essence of Sissy! *grin* And not only that, but above the fold too! Well done.

[Rob A.]

Good for you, Sissy.

[Sissy Willis]

Thanks!