underdogishere

This post is going to be long, introspective, and boring. If you don't want to go to sleep, skip down to the heading And now some news.... and get the scoop.

This blog will turn one year old tomorrow. A year ago I created a blogger account so I could commentinate on Liz's blog. Personally, I don't care to observe anniversaries --I prefer to not recognize even my birthday -- but they are supposed to be a time for reflection and consideration, and I've been doing a little reflecting and considering. And I'm torn about this blogging thing.

On the one hand I like to write, and like almost everyone who likes to write, I like it when someone reads what I write. So I like that about this blog. It gives me a chance to say, Here, I wrote this! Read it -- you'll like it! Look at me! Look at me!

On the other hand, blogging hasn't come easily for me. As I said in yesterday's post (and again, despite what you might think), I'm a very private person. I don't like talking about myself (like I'm doing now), and when I do I have to think long and hard about it (as I have now). (I know, those of you who have read my travel albums will say, "You sure talk about yourself there!" Yeah, I know. I can't explain it. It's like when I'm on a trip I'm someone else, and when I come back I can talk about that person and not be embarrassed, because that person wasn't me. Go figure.)

I also have some rules about what I will and will not post about. I've already mentioned that I will not post about my job or coworkers. I also will not post about my family or friends -- I feel weird telling stories about people publicly without their knowledge or permission. Besides, if they want their lives on the Internet, they can start their own blogs.

I also will not post about politics, because politics is purely a matter of faith, and attempting to hold rational discourse about a matter of pure faith is like attempting to use a knife and fork to eat a brick. I have better things to do.

Ditto religion.

Given all these rules and neuroses, it's often hard finding something it's okay to post about. And I believe that if a blogger expects to be read, then he or she owes the readers some kind of regular content, because I know it's a bummer to come back to a blog time and again to find nothing's changed. Myself, I won't read blogs like that (except for Clara's).

Furthermore, when I'm writing for this blog I don't feel like I'm "in my own skin," if you know what I mean. I'm always asking myself, "Is this appropriate? Should I talk about this? Am I going to look like an idiot? (Am I going to sound like I'm whining, like I am right now?)" I don't feel that way when I write fiction. Fiction comes to me easily and naturally.

The real kicker is that when I look at the blogs that I read regularly, they are all just the opposite of mine: They're full of news about family and friends, and what so-and-so had for dinner, and the woes of work, and politics, and whatever else is on the bloggers' minds. I like these blogs because I come to know and like these people. And so I'm left with the nagging suspicion that if I wasn't me but instead was someone just like me, I probably would not like my own blog.

So on my first anniversary I'm reflecting and considering whether this blog was just an interesting experiment and should I move on.

But I do like having people read what I write.

What about you? Do you have any rules regarding what you can and cannot talk about on your blog? If you want to post an answer on your blog, please let me know at gss at att dot net.

Anyway, it's time for some news!

And now some news...

For the next several weeks I'm going to be completely cut off from the Internet. No email, no blogs, no eBay, no nuthin'. So, obviously, I won't be posting here. However, my brother has agreed to guest blog in my place. Yay! I'm not going to tell you anything about my brother -- he can do that himself, and you know it makes me feel weird :). But I will tell you that his posts are liable to be very different from mine. I am not holding him to any of the rules that I impose on myself -- he can post about anything he wants, as long as he doesn't get us kicked off Blogger. And he should have a lot to post about (if he wants to) because... well, alright, I will tell you this much:

He and his wife are expecting their first child, like, any day hour now. Like, it might be happening now.

And with that, I will bid you adieu, and I'll be back by the end of May.

Adieu!

Labels: Musing, My Family, Travel