Why I Blog (and Why I Don't Blog)
I haven't been keeping up this blog very well lately. I wish I had.
When I began this thing back in, what was it, March? I wasn't doing so
well. Both of my careers seemed to be drifting. One of those jobs is
internet related, and I was reading a lot of online material from Salon, Buzzflash, Liberals Like Christ, and
Salon blogs like Emphasis
Added and How to Save the
World. Reading these sites began to take on the quality of an
addiction. I had a lot of free time in which the many horrors of Bush's
administration riccocheted around my head with no direction or purpose.
Furthermore, in my other job, I work with some people who listen to talk
radio during the day. I didn't really know how to handle the
situation. I didn't want to sit there and let that stuff pass, but I
also didn't want to turn that office into a daily war of ideologies.
Furthermore, I'm not very good at arguing on the fly. I needed another
platform on which to define and share my views.
I began writing letters to the editor of my paper, which helped me with
my feeling of powerlessness, but the paper will only take one letter
from you a month, and I was full of them. I also set up a CafePress.com site, but
didn't get that much traffic. I had heard the term "Patriotically
Incorrect" somewhere, and saw that it was available. I decided to take
the plunge and buy it. I also set up a Salon blog for a free trial and
tried things out.
It was great. I was able to use my spare time at my internet job to
research and write essays that helped me nail down what I believe and
share it with a receptive community. I was able to calm the hornets
nest that had been my mind. I felt like I was participating in the
noble struggle against the neo-con thugs.
But my internet reading was still compulsive. If I picked up momentum
early, the rest of the day was shot. It wasn't a good feeling. Also, I
started many essays on more personal, internal subjects which almost
never came to fruition. I wanted to write about my own political and
philosophical growth and history and reactions, but I couldn't seem to
complete any of it.
Then work began to pick up. Also, I haven't been spending as much time
at the other office with the right winger. And other tasks and
responsibilities in my life have been growing. As a result, ever since
my mid-Summer vacation, my posts have been spotty and sporadic.
I want to be out here, shaping and sharing my thoughts. But right now,
it seems that the most healthy thing for me is to concentrate on other
things more often than not. I'll still post something when I can make
the time to write it. I hope I can integrate this back into my life
without the negative obsessions that got me here in the first place.
And thank you to anyone who might actually give a damn whether I post or
not.
Take care. I hope to speak to you soon.
7:12:11 PM 
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