Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Something happening there, what it is aint exactly clear.

Dooce, the wonderfully well-written (though sometimes slightly creepy Truman Show-esque) sassy mommy blog (that launched a thousand crappy mommy blogs, and makes the other well-written mommy blogs jealous) is hinting there's some big news TK.

Here's my prediction: I think Heather's news is going to be huge. Probably the blogger-as-minor-celeb jump the shark moment. She'll be the subject of a Lifetime Original Movie, her blog will have offical sponsors (drawn by the tidal force of a big media ad sales team) and something else... the inevitable blogger book deal, yes, but also a column in Oprah magazine? A commercial for Volvo or the Nikkon D line or...?

Of course my Lifetime prediction is really only based on the fact that I've been telling people forever that if I worked at any women's network (I have in my past worked for both Lifetime and Oxygen, but had no give-money-to-people/make-decisions powers), I'd snap that woman up so fast the doll heads on Leta's toys would spin.

I've been saying it for years, actually. I've attempted to get companies I've worked for to advertise on her site. And when they didn't? Partly crazed, I placed my own ad on her site. It was a tax-deductible 76 bucks well spent. Her readership is loyal, they clicked. They clicked because my ad was quirky and sincere. But many many clicked just because they wanted to support this stranger who makes them cry everytime she posts a monthly baby update. Heck, I'm not into babies, but she got me a few times.

So why is this happening to her now and not then? My guess is the catalyst was the recent Glamour magazine article and spread. I didn't read it, but a whole lotta women across the country bought that magazine for the first time in a decade -- and I know that because they blogged about it.

So one person with power, who almost certainly never heard of Dooce (nor cried over her fabulously sappy posts) said, "Wow. I want THAT."

And THAT to them is a hot woman* who has a coveted demo lock, stock, and two smoking Elmos.

I wish her the best. I wish I had the power to have helped her (and cashed in on her) years ago. I can't wait to see if I've come close to being right. The only thing I hope it's not is a reality show. I can see an exec thinking, "Wow, she shares her everyday life and women go NUTS! So let's stick a camera in there and give them even more!" Her writing about her life is crafted, the actuality of her life is, like most lives, sorta dull.

But mainly, I hope she's able to keep her voice and to sell out gracefully. I mean, will she still be an advocate for how unfairly expensive health insurance is for regular Americans once she's got her own at-home CAT scan? I'm being absurd, but you get my drift.

*I think her looks are a big part of her success, and I don't mean that she's not entirely talented. I remember reading my first dooce post and enjoying it, whatever it was. But I clearly remember that afterwards I clicked on her profile and thought, "Whoa she's hot." And Thor forgive me, I'm a heterosexual, feminist, accept-your-bod type woman, but Heather's good looks (read: blonde streaks and cheekbones from her lack of a weight problem) is totally, absolutely the thing that made me come back to read more.