Sunday, July 28, 2002

OK, new content time. On further consideration of the question "...why would people do that?" (blogging), I propose the following ten reasons to participate in the weblog community: 1. Self expression (duh) 2. "Meeting" people with interesting ideas 3. Quiet time - blogging, like all writing, is a mostly solitary activity 4. Beats the hell out of watching network TV 5. Feels good to use the Net as it should be used - hyperlinked, interactive media 6. Produces something I can show the tax man for all those computer writeoffs I'll take this year 7. Exercises the writing muscles a little 8. Forces me to learn more about the details of web publishing 9. Beats the hell out of reading most newspapers 10. Satisfies the need to leave more than a fossil when I'm gone I suppose everyone has their reasons, but these are mine. comment []7:35:46 AM

As I look back on the week, it's been a poor week for writing - blog or otherwise. I think it starts when I hit the road, as I did on Monday the 22nd. The journey I took on  the 22nd through the 24th was hellish, one of the worst set of flights I can remember. I considered posting all the details here, but decided to spare myself and others the shrill whining about non-reclining center seats, weather delays, poor service and bad food. But after three days of that, plus about 10 pages of note-taking, I guess my creative instincts were stunted. What brings this up is the excellent evening with friends last night (thanks, Bob and Sandy), where one of the conversation topics was blogging. Turns out neither Bob nor Sandy had heard of blogs, and either wanted to learn more or were just being polite. The first question was, as always, "...why would anyone want to do that?". That's a tough one. What's my motivation? I think for me it comes down to a need for reflection on life. I get lost pretty easily in life's complexity, in the hustle and bustle of everyday things. I need some mechanism for focusing on what's important, and savoring the moment a bit. Blogging satisfies that need. I also believe that you're not a writer if you don't write. Sounds trite, but all my adult life I've had this shadow identity of "someone who can write", but of course I never took the time to do much of it outside the occasional work piece. So at least with a blog, the process of focusing thoughts and stringing whole sentences together satisfies the letter of that particular law, if not the spirit. In considering this, I ran into an excellent survey on blogging at www.amytart.com/2002_06_01_archive.shtml#77462088 . comment []6:46:05 AM

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