Thursday, February 16, 2006

My Blog

There are approximately 18 billion blogs in the world (about 3 per living person, not to mention ones for pets and dead people). As historian Will Durant said about his tome on Napoleon: “Why add to the heap?”

My main reasons for not starting one thus far are:


  1. It takes work, and deep down I’m basically a lazy person who would rather just watch the Daily Show.
  2. It’s not clear what is advantageous about preserving for all time thoughts and ideas that my descendents will likely just be embarrassed about.
  3. Like 17.9999999 billion other blogs, it would only be read by internet search engines. I’m pretty sure I could get my brother Tim to read it, but I’m not even so sure about my wife Jill, since she always just shakes her head in confusion and dismay whenever I write letters to the editor.

But, writing is becoming an increasingly satisfying hobby for me, and I may as well get feedback from friends (or Tim) on pieces if I’m going to continue to do it. The News Gazette will only print one letter a month (unless you are especially good at it, like my friend Greg Springer), and I usually need to comment about my concern for the state of the world more often than that (where concerned here means angry or frustrated or astounded).

I’m also taking a class this spring on the Biblical Foundations of Peace & Justice at AMBS, and I’ll have a lot of reading and regurgitating to do, so I may as well let the search engines read what I’ve learned. They probably get tired of indexing what people had for breakfast anyway.

5 comments:

Crockhead said...

Interesting blog. You're being too pessimistic about readers. If you build it, they will come.

Dana S. Whitney said...

I think Amishlaw is right!
I'd never connected Mennonites and the Daily Show, for example. And I wonder how "we"* can get more thoughtful people to establish an appropriate boundary between religion and government.

I get people to see what I'm up to on my blog by following comments and adding my own. (I found you via B. Hildebrand's site meter... and him via IllustrationFriday(dot)com.

* meaning thoughtful people who are not zealots and who admire consistent following of ethical precepts.

Dan S said...

Thanks for the encouragement sultry painterwoman (great name by the way :) ). It is heartening that people I don't know are starting to comment, and are even recommended by people I don't know.

I'm curious though, what is B. Hildebrand's site meter, by the way?

Anonymous said...

Not sure if your blog is active anymore....maybe you've seen the light and returned to the one true church. The Catholic Church wants all Christians to finally come home. Read a little from Pope Benedict.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if your blog is active anymore....maybe you've seen the light and returned to the one true church. The Catholic Church wants all Christians to finally come home. Read a little from Pope Benedict.