BlogAppeal

I hate blogs.

There is just something about these bits of pointless text flung out onto the web that rub me the wrong way. Our computers condition us to be selfish, terrible people with their “My Computer, My Documents, My Favorite Websites” approach to interface design, so it is no surprise than whenever we sit down to write something for public consumption, all we feel inclined to do is drone on and on about ourselves. We scream out, “This is my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want to do with it.” And then we throw a few exclamation points in there for emphasis. (!!!)

Which is fine, I suppose. Your web page is your space and you have the right to freedom of expression and that’s great… as long as I don’t have to read it.

So the obvious question is this: WHY OH WHY AM I WRITING A BLOG? Why do I want to join the ranks of those I hold in disdain? Why do I want to be lumped in the same category as those whiny, self-indulgent people who insist on writing in the first person while yammering on about… nothing?

Because I am no better. I want a place that has the intimate feel of a journal but at the same time has the potential of getting world-wide attention. I want a place to go to and gripe about my job, school, or what I saw some other yokel write on some other blog. I want a place to gush about that concert I went to last Thursday or to announce my latest Amazon.com preorders. Or if, heaven forbid, I decide to spout off about politics or some other topic of which I know next-to-nothing, I now have a place to spout.

But that is a negative way of looking at this. A more positive approach is this:

I have something important to say. I am opinionated and cranky, sure, but there is a method to the madness. And I want a place to explain not only the opinions, but the reasons behind them, as well. That is the whole appeal of having a blog, isn’t it?

Also, I have a podcast called Dayjobs and Nightmares. In that podcast – fifteen to twenty minutes, delivered monthly – I present stories about the relationship between what we do and what we fear. That podcast focuses on audio storytelling – using the podcasting medium to entertain, examine cultural issues, and reflect on that wacky thing we call the human condition.

It is a fairly ambitious project and is in the “growing pains” stage right now. It takes a long time for me to put together the audio (write the script, conduct the interviews, get the appropriate music, etc.), so there isn’t really any room in it for me to talk about movies or music or to give instructions on how to completely avoid the gay marriage debate forever. But, while working on Dayjobs and Nightmares, I get ideas that won’t necessarily fit into the format of that podcast. So where do those ideas go?

This blog.

There will be two types of material in this blog. There will be the blog entries, which will consist of mini-essays about whatever it is I want to gripe about. The second will be the Media Feed podcast. In Media Feed, I will review films, books, comics, video games, music, and even other podcasts. The format of Media Feed will be very much like the Reel Reviews podcast – five to fifteen minutes of me just gushing about something that is definitely worth your while.

So that is the yin and yang of this area –whiny and complaining text entries coupled with gooshy-gushy lovey-dovey audio files.

As much as I hate blogs, I will say this about blog readers – they are gracious and they are accepting. Someone starts with a provocative and inflammatory statement like “I hate blogs,” and the reader keeps on going until the end. I hope you don’t feel your time was wasted coming here, and I hope you come back.