lifestyle blogs are reality tv

Better Homes & Bloggers | Bitch Media

I read the above article when it came out in Bitch a few months ago. I follow a couple of lifestyle bloggers, mainly:
http://www.katiespencilbox.com/
http://thesnailandthecyclops.blogspot.ca/
http://hannahandlandon.blogspot.ca/
http://it-girl-rag-doll.blogspot.ca/
http://sallyjanevintage.blogspot.ca/
http://sallyjanevintage.blogspot.ca/
http://www.calivintage.com/
http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/

So I guess I have a begrudging admiration for these types of things.....and I admit that a couple of them I do 'hate read' because there is something I find loathsome about the content (I won't single them out).
I look at this stuff as eye candy/escapism, the same way I would read women's fashion magazines (which I've always loved). But I still can't help but wonder what it must be like to be INSIDE one of these lives.

I wish there were a few that looked more like my life, with dog hair, fucked up gardens, houses that are slightly falling apart due to lack of time, money and energy to make fixes; worlds populated by clutter, by humans who are messy and homes that aren't curated. A lot of these blogs seem to exist in another world where there is never a hair out of place, DIY projects never go wrong, there is always limitless time to attend gatherings of beautiful people who appear colour coordinated, styled and prop-managed. I often wonder how the parents pull it off, like "Honey, put the gift back, now let your eyes SHINE as you pull it out", or "Wait hope back into bed now that the sheets look clean and we'll get that perfect towheaded mussed morning shot", and "Honey, can you get a shot of my perfectly manicured feet against the gleaming hardwood floor, let's do it pigeon-toed so I look cuter...." FUCKING UGH!!!!

Do people go around snapping photos of every single thing they encounter? I have seen food blogs that had the opposite effect, with terrible photography that, while unappetizing was at least a little reassuring. Not all vegans eat beautifully plated and photogenic food off of matching handmade pottery?

I imagine it's more that lifestyle bloggers are visual people who, if they do work outside the blog, do creative/design/artistic work, and have effortlessly honed their eye to be attuned to these things. And likely their lives are curated a bit better than mine (which wouldn't be too tough).

So I'll keep reading. But I'm not kidding myself, some of these lives are entirely fictional, mocked up from really nice pictures. And certainly no reason to feel inadequate in any way.