Hal - Deliberately Basic

As of December 2007 Technorati was tracking 112 million BLOGs. What do the people who write and maintain these BLOGs have in common? To answer that, I’ve come up with three ideas: Money, vanity and family or multi-users Blogs.

Most of us fall into the vanity category. We like to write, and this is an outlet for that. We actually get to see our words in digital print, if not in a paper publication somewhere. And, there is a chance, out of the millions of existing BLOGs, someone will read it.

Personally, I don’t consider social networking or those who post their private life on a web site. Exceptions to this may be considered if you are looking for a job, or have some other legitimate reason to network in social media. Nevertheless, I think it is dangerous to billboard yourself on the Internet.

It seems harmless enough to maintain a BLOG just because you like to write and hope someone will read it. In most cases this is true. But, and as usual this is a big but, before we write whatever comes to mind, let us ponder these things for a while.

1) You could be sued. Libel and defamation apply to anyone. Bloggersblog is a good site for further explanation. I have a poem I have considered posting for at least a year, but it might cost me everything I have. The fact is, I don’t know, so I doubt you will ever see it.

2) It is costly. If you are not interested in pursuing this for anything more than a hobby, you have to pay for the all the web site hosting and domain registration that goes with it. Yes, you can have a free host, but then you don’t have a name; you have a sub-net name. This is like living with someone and using their address.

3) Do it from work and lose your job. Only a fool and a cheat would do this, but it has happened, and undoubtedly is happening now.

4) Addiction happens. I discovered there are “BLOG widows“, created by those who spend a good deal of their life at the keyboard. Picture this, a group sitting in a circle, a shy young man standing, talking to the group he says, “My name is bunnyzapper22 and I’m a blogger.”

5) You feel pressured to keep your BLOG current and interesting. See Number 4.

6) Technical maintenance is time consuming. A with all things IT, you will, sooner or later have to deal with technical issues. It helps to have a knowledge of programming, and web technology if you want to get the most out of a BLOG. It is also time consuming.

7) There will be times when you have nothing to say. This used to be called writers block. For me it still is.

8) You may have health issues from sitting on your ass all day writing drivel for your BLOG. Even if you are one of the few who make a lot of money blogging, is it worth risking your health?

9) Can you keep your priorities in order? Writing for a BLOG can become an obsession. See number 4.

10) Few if any will actually read your BLOG. Bloggers tend to read other BLOGs, that is, they skim other blogs. There is simply not enough time to read much on the Internet unless we are researching, or you find something so incredibly interesting we actually read the words and sentences.

Finally, if you haven’t seen this, have a look.
How many bloggers does it take to change a light-bulb? This blogger has found the answer.

I have imported all posts from my old BLOG, Willow Tea. I do not have the time or the inclination to maintain two BLOGs. Nevertheless, I hope to devote more time to this one. In my next post I will give reasons for keeping a BLOG, and many reasons not to keep a BLOG.

Meanwhile, I will put up a redirect page on the old WT site.

Thanks to all readers, especially those who have left comments.

From the Onion Radio News, a topical news story:
President Bush Calls On Business Leaders To Create 500,000 Crappy Jobs

Maybe this, with the $200.00 the working poor may get will pull the economy out of the current slump.

You work for years, dreaming of the day when at last you can pursue the things that interest you. It doesn’t matter what your dreams are. They need not be lofty pursuits, maybe you just want to play golf, or walk in the woods. You have finally reached a point in your life you can call your own. This is your time. Then you let it be known you are retired.

The moment you tell working people you are retired, they equate this with you having nothing to do. Suddenly, you have all the time in the world to do whatever your friends, but especially your relatives, want you to do. And just as suddenly, your “me” time is gone.

I have stopped telling people I’m retired. I lie to them. I constantly complain that I don’t have enough time to get all my work done. I commiserate with them about not enough hours in the day.

The last thing a retired person wants to hear is, “You’re retired. What do you have to do?” Or, if you say something such as, “I have to get off the phone now” they want to know why. If you are retired, then what the hell is the hurry. Somehow, by virtue of the fact that you are retired, you have more time for them.

Only boring people have nothing to do. Boring people fail to understand that others may have interests, and do not want to waste time chatting on the phone. Boring people piss me off anyway. There are dullards everywhere, and even these tedious people retire. These people, lacking in imagination, have nothing to do. These are the people who give retirement a bad name.

A measured day is what we have
No more nor less for all
For some the measure is too much
For others much too small

Seize each hour of this day
Yesterday is gone
Tomorrow a mere wisp of hope
In space and time beyond

Have you nothing much to do
Dull slug, bored mindless cretin
Waste not my precious measured day
As you hasten to your coffin