Blogging

What’s up blogosphere? I don’t really know what you’re doing here. I’ve never really understood the whole idea of blogging, as I can’t imagine that I have anything to say that you’d find all that interesting. But you’re here, and after that enticing intro, I’m sure you’ll never leave.

The thing that’s always kept me from starting a blog is that I feel like the Internet is giving us way too MUCH information about what people are up to. See, e.g., Facebook. I like Facebook because it’s an easy way to keep in touch with people I otherwise wouldn’t. And I’d never start dating someone without checking out her Facebook page – not only for the pictures (did she used to be fat? did she ever have really short hair?) but also for the info section (I’m out if I see any Bible quotes that aren’t used ironically). But people feel the need to post these updates about what they’re doing every second of every day, and it is killing me.

Here are some actual samples of “updates” I’ve received from friends in the recent past, with names hidden to protect the innocent:

“X is working” – You, sir, should have a blog to tell us more!!

“X is waiting for pizza to show up” – Don’t worry, you’ll be relieved to know there was a follow-up post informing us that the pizza did, in fact, show up. The worst part is that it was from Domino’s, which I would think twice about ordering from if I were literally starving to death.

“X is homework” – First of all, that isn’t a verb, so I hope it’s grammar homework that you’re working on. Second, this post is from a relative of mine who is in high school. I do not typically hang out with people who are “homework”.

I do enjoy reading these updates for the most part. I just don’t need to know about every facet of your daily life. So I get that you’re enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but could you just consider whether this information is really worth sharing before you post it? I only want to see updates like “Eric is regretting hooking up with that 40 year old cougar this weekend; tequila = muy bad!” THAT would totally make my day.

So you should know up front what this blog will NOT be. This isn’t going to be some awesome travel blog that gives you insight into new and interesting places (although I do travel a lot and I’ll post cool pics sometimes). I’m not going to cover your favorite sports team in an obsessive level of detail (although I will ramble about sports-related issues at times). And I’m not going to provide any “inside” insight from famous people about current events or politics.

But some people have encouraged me to start a blog (apparently enough time has elapsed that they’ve forgotten just how bad the column I used to write for my high school paper was), and I’d forgotten how much I like writing (even if I’m the only one reading this). And I promise to only write things that I think are interesting and worth reading. So thanks for checking out my blog and I hope that we both continue to enjoy it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m homework.