ON BLOGGING...

PART THE FIRST: At Least I'm Writing...

Blog and blogging

Where did these words come from? How do new words "officially" enter our lexicon while others fall out of usage? The next time I'm in a bookstore, I must remember to look up "blog" in a dictionary.

Years ago, my first reaction to blogging was: "ICK!! OH, PLEASE... Why would I want to put my thoughts, ideas, daily rantings, dreams, pictures, etc. on the web...?" I thought it was kind of silly. I mean, who would want to read anything that I write? Let alone comment? And what would I say? And why would I want to read about other people's personal sh*t?

That was my line of thinking a few years ago...

Call me a lemming, or a lamb being led to the slaughter, but...

On October 20, 2005, I received a small blurb from Thane of the Universe / Tormented Soul, informing me he'd just started a blog. Apparently, he'd been under pressure for some time from friends who'd been blogging for awhile. After I'd read TofU's blog and browsed some random blogs, I started my own.

WOW...my own writing on the web. My own writing for anyone to run across, read, comment on, etc. Other friends have followed suit, and now, it has become another (new) way of keeping tabs on each other. I like that. I have witnessed a reconnection with friends who are not geographically located nearby. I think it's cool to see everybody's different topics and writing styles, the organization of friends' blogs, how they comment, etc. And our coterie seems to have easily assimilated this phenomenon called blogging. In fact, one blog (which was only one sentence long) started with welcoming comments that turned slightly hostile (in a friendly way, of course) when said blogger failed to post something in a timely manner. Most amusing.

At first, I thought I could write something every day, but it became quite clear (as friends add to their own blogs and comment on others) that just reading and responding and checking for new commentary takes a lot of time. A LOT OF TIME. And I want to take the time to read and comment on others' blogs. But I'm hard pressed for material sometimes. The commentary (sometimes witty, sometimes perverted, sometimes insightful, and always eloquent) of my fellow bloggers may crack me up or give me a new perspective.

Tormented soul pointed out that one of the reasons he'd started one and informed me about his blog was for the writing. I thank him for this. I'd like to write creatively someday, but I have yet to come up with my idea... my concept... my story-line. I don't know if I could come up with something truly original. I think everything's been done. So the challenge becomes the presentation of something in a new way. Take the Harry Potter books. Stories of wizards and witches have been around for centuries. The author has taken an old idea and presented it in a new way.

Ah well... at least I'm writing...