About Blogging

I've been blogging now for a year. It has been an interesting experience. I've learned a little about net etiquette, a little about sources of information, and a lot about how our government is running amok. (I've also learned how to link to wikipedia.)

But, I have to be honest, I am not widely read. I am part of a community of liberal bloggers, but not one of the top dogs and have no anticipation of this happening. To be a top dog one would have to devote one's entire resources to blogging, plus be extremely witty, like TBogg. I confess openly that I am aware of how flat my attempts at humor usually fall. (That brings up the whole question of who is funny and why they are funny. Some people are funny just by being themselves. Others can tell the funniest joke in the world and no one laughs. Oh, the vagaries of human nature.)

Blogging like what I and a million others do has taken the place of the vanity press, all those "published at author's expense" pieces that used to clutter the libraries of the wealthy. (That in itself is interesting. If someone didn't have a lot of money, they always bought good books. I was going to say that most humans are smart enough not to waste money but, on retrospection, is patently false.)

I have thought of looking at the "ideal blog." For sure, it is short and to the point. I am sure that there will soon be a blog out there that is the equivalent of Strunk and White's Elements of Style describing what does make a good and bad blog, though the ease of publication will create enormous dissent. Imagine if one could have blogged about Elements of Style immediately after its publication; questioning every twist and turn of the recommendations. This may be good, but, then again, it may be bad.

There will be books about blogs, but nobody will read them. There will be blogs about blogs (like this one) and no one will read them. What we have been tuned to get is a daily fix of sensationalism. The next Downing Street Memo. The next Michael Jackson. In a year, these things will be seen as trivia.

Children don't read now. I can verify that. Fifty years ago, there was a fairly high drop out from high school, and few young people went to college. While WWII increased that dramatically, because of the GI Bill, still, the level of reading was low. It probably increased steadily until 10-20 years ago when video games became popular. Now, with the InterNet, children don't read.

So, I think I am going to take a break from this self satisfying activity that occupies so much of my time. I know my friends will be happy; they were tired of me running on about blogs and what is on the Net.

You, who may read this, see you later.