A guy at work wrote on his "relaxed slow-moving, occasionally-updated weblog" that bloggers who update their blog multiple times a day are "some combination of (a) well-organized, (b) brilliant, or (c) egotistical". I can't say I disagree with that. (I also know that he's not really referring to me, since I only update my blog once or twice a week.) He then goes on to say that bloggers are "presumptious, almost distasteful" because they publish their thoughts with the implied assumption that they are "worthy" of publication. (Note that he also says that he's decided that "this impression of presumptiousness is wrong".) I certainly don't think that my thoughts as published in my blog are "worthy" of anything. They're my thoughts, and if you want to read them, great. If you think this blog is a pile of crap, well, there are one or two other blogs on the internet, feel free to check them out. I won't be offended. I'm certainly not doing this because I think anything I've written is particularly profound or meaningful - I am quite sure that nobody gives a rat's ass about my trip to Wonderland the other day, or what concerts I've been to, or my thoughts on the important social or political issues of the day (ummm... I couldn't find any such links on this blog) and yet I wrote about them anyway. Why?
I don't know if I have an audience. I know that one or two people at work (JP, MC) have read my blog in the past and have even commented on an article or two, but I don't know if they read every article. I've sent links to single articles to a couple of my friends, but I don't know if they've read any others. Even my wife knows about my blog, but I don't think she reads it. My kids are too young to know what a blog is (but I'm sure they'll be LOL'ing and OMG'ing on myspace.com before I know it). So: I don't think my thoughts are particularly meaningful to anyone else, and other than myself and the occasional google searcher, I don't know if anyone is reading this stuff anyway. So again we arrive at this question that I tried to answer before - why the hell am I doing this?
Going back to Tom's description - am I well-organized? Not especially. Brilliant? That's a stretch, though I'm fairly well-educated. Egotistical? Generally no, but I think there has to be a certain amount of that involved - logically, I must want people to read it, otherwise why publish it? If the writing part of it is why I do it, then I could just write it down and leave it on my own computer, but I don't.
I enjoy reading other people's blogs. When I went to DC in January for the CC testing, the validator was a guy named Daniel. I'd never met nor even heard of him before then, I haven't talked to him since (and likely won't ever again), and he probably doesn't remember who I am. Yet I still read his blog, even though he generally talks about his friends who I don't know, and places he goes in LA, where I've never been, as well as his interest in the Jewish faith, about which I know very little. It's certainly not one of my favourite blogs, but I still find it interesting now and again. I've occasionally found blogs from people I've never met nor heard of, and sometimes they can be enjoyable too.
Perhaps it's egotistical of me to think that someone, somewhere, occasionally enjoys reading my blog. I guess the end result is that I find it fun to publish this stuff, and if nobody reads it, then no big deal. I'm too well-organized and brilliant to care about that.
2 comments:
Hmmmm, so I wonder if anyone will make a comment? :-)
BTW: Looking back through your recent entries.... I find that most computer-related books these days contain very little content, and generally most of the useful content can be found online.
My kids are too young to know what a blog is (but I'm sure they'll be LOL'ing and OMG'ing on myspace.com before I know it).
Bad idea. I have a myspace account, and its more spam attraction. Consider introducing them to LJ or Vox, as there is a bit more control as to who can see their stuff and post (especially LJ).
When I went to DC in January for the CC testing, the validator was a guy named Daniel. I'd never met nor even heard of him before then, I haven't talked to him since (and likely won't ever again), and he probably doesn't remember who I am.
Oh, I remember you. As to whether you see me again... unlikely, given the change in validator approaches. But in our industry, one never knows. Perhaps you'll come to ACSAC and present a tutorial on Database Security :-).
Yet I still read his blog, even though he generally talks about his friends who I don't know, and places he goes in LA, where I've never been, as well as his interest in the Jewish faith, about which I know very little.
Oh, I talk about a lot more about that: there are movie and play reviews, gaming stuff, parenting stuff, and all sorts of randomness (although the more family stuff is friends-only). As for LA... you should come out here. Usually the weather's great, and you can take your kids to the House of Mouse.
It's certainly not one of my favourite blogs, but I still find it interesting now and again.
Thanks for the kind words.
If others are interested in reading it, take a look at it.
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