Next Blog

So the last time I wrote on here, I republished the blog and took a look at it. Then, out of curiosity, I hit the "Next Blog" button at the top right of this page. I got someone's blog. I can't remember what it was about, for reasons you will soon understand.

Next I hit the back button on my browser, and hit that "Next Blog" button again. And again. And again. And again. I must have looked at 30 or 40 blogs. Many of them in foreign languages, many in English, and many obviously written by people for whom English is not their first language. And of the ones I could read, I found a few trends:

1. ppl hu rite w/net splling usually post crap. They write about what movie stars are doing. They write about hanging out with their friends. They write things so poorly that after reading them my brain purges them completely in a sort of mental-poisoning vomit reflex.

2. Some people write normally (albeit with poor grammar and spelling) and also post crap. This is better than the first category, because it takes less time to figure out that I am reading crap.

3. Some people are writing about their struggle to lose weight. I wasn't counting, but it seemed like a trend.

4. Some people write about their hobbies/obsessions. My Dad has started his own blog about decks. So far it has an introduction. When he has more, I'll add a link to it on my blog. The interesting factor on these depends very much on the subject material.

5. Some people vomit poetry. Sorry, I meant write poetry. Some of it is actually readable, some of it makes my brain strain to reach out through my ears and nose to simultaneously hit ctrl+alt+delete on my keyboard.

6. A very few people write stuff that is actually entertaining. A few travelogues, some people with interesting points of view, and some people who just spout entertaining things. I sorta wish I had been keeping track of these, but not enough to go back and check my browser history for them. Because I would still have to sort through all the crap. And even if I did have access to them, I don't really have time to read them.

Sort of leaves me wondering where my blog falls. Of course I assume it is in category #6, but I presume that everyone out there believes that they are writing something interesting. I mean, surely even the kids who write total crap think that it is interesting to someone, right?

I also sort of wonder what the difference is between putting my thoughts out there in a blog and putting them in an email that I send to everyone I know. This, adding my thoughts to this giant sea of ideas (and crap) feels different, though it's hard to put my finger on. It's partly ego. I mean, maybe someone who has never heard of me is reading this right now, and thinking, "Hey, this guy's pretty entertaining!" Just the thought of it makes me feel a bit proud.

It also feels a bit more permanent than the old emails. I mean, the old files I sent to everyone are still on my hard drive, with many of them backed up on CD-ROM, but this way if my apartment building collapses when Youngary (the Korean version of Godzilla) tears through Pusan, my entries will still be up there, floating around on the internet somewhere.

And this should be more accessible when Maxine is old enough to be interested. Which is a bit of a scary thought.

That's it for now. I'm curious to hear any thought you might have on this issue. Also, please note that I mentioned vomit twice in this posting without actually getting any on myself.

Peace,

Rob