Look at Me!! Look at Me!!!!

On one of my favorite online comics is User Friendly, which centers around IT professionals and Computer Support folk like myself. In the current storyline on the strip one of the characters started a blog like this one while another character says that blogs are "a symptom of Look at Me behavior" and compares blogging to masturbating in front of a mirror.

Of course I do not see it quite that way. I like doing this blog for several reasons, which are of course in self interest but nothing like it as described above. My hands are firmly on the keyboard and there is not a mirror anywhere near me.

First, I like writing in my blog to, as another UF character states, to "let people know what's going on in your life". It would be cool if people, mostly my friends, read it, but if noone reads it that's ok too. If I really need to tell my friends and family something really important, that's what phones and emails are for.

Second, I like writing to improve my writing skills. I used to be able to write pretty well and enjoy to do so when I was in school but, as with everything when you get old, get married, have kids, etc. it gets pushed to the back burner. I used to be a pretty good bowler too, and I started taking that back up again as well.

And, most importantly, I find writing about things in my life uniquely therapeutic. It allows me to think about what I did and felt during the events I describe. It helps when you see your thoughts and feelings "on paper" and forces to be honest with yourself. I'm not above editing a post I already published if I feel that I didn't convey my real thoughts clearly enough.

So, why don't I just keep a private journal? Why post it for the world to see? My answer is...well, why not? As you can tell I do not disclose names or any other important information. If you know me I do not have to and it you don't it allows me to introduce myself to you without leaving me or my loved ones open to people that are less than honorable.

Does writing a blog make me look self centered? Maybe. But you're reading this, right? And if you got this far I got your attention, which is something a writer strives to do. Also, as you might have noticed in previous entries, I like to pay tribute to people that either touched me emotionally or did right by me. I do not disclose who these people are (unless it's a famous person like my obit entry for Ray Charles), but those people know who they are when (if?) they read this blog and it allows me to express myself to them in front of mutual friends/family/strangers.

So there. :-p