"A blog is the thing to create," I was told.
Like this green fellow, to the right, I wondered why.
What is a blog, I speculated, and why is it such a necessity?
"Why, it's the latest fad in communications," I was told.
Hmm . . . I felt as though I'd already been communicating . . . in person, on the telephone, through emails, on Facebook and Twitter.
"But blogs are better! They are more personal and interactive."
Hmm . . . Weren't those other means personal enough?
Perhaps not . . .
And so I sit here in Prague in the fog with my friend,
Claude, and his brother, Bob, trying to search through the
smog in my noggin for something of value to blog.
None of that is true, of course, except for my desire to
offer a few moments of entertainment to those
who choose to take a peek and, perhaps,
offer thoughts of their own.
Welcome!
Where shall I begin?
At the beginning, of course!
A young man, by the name of Justin Hall, was a student at Swarthmore College back in 1994. It was then that he starting posting his personal thoughts online for the world, or at least his associates, to read. He continued to do so for eleven years according Rebecca Blood.
Ms. Blood posted a comprehensive history of blogging at:
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Among the many interesting facts given in her report is this:
"Peter Merholz announced in early 1999 that he was going to pronounce it [A personal online commentary] 'wee-blog' and inevitably this was shortened to 'blog' with the weblog editor referred to as a 'blogger'."
As an author, I found the following reason for blogging intriguing:
"The blogger, by virtue of simply writing down whatever is on his mind, will be confronted with his own thoughts and opinions. Blogging every day, he will become a more confident writer. A community of 100 or 20 or 3 people may spring up around the public record of his thoughts. Being met with friendly voices, he may gain more confidence in his view of the world; he may begin to experiment with longer forms of writing, to play with haiku, or to begin a creative project--one that he would have dismissed as being inconsequential or doubted he could complete only a few months before.
As he enunciates his opinions daily, this new awareness of his inner life may develop into a trust in his own perspective. His own reactions--to a poem, to other people, and, yes, to the media--will carry more weight with him. Accustomed to expressing his thoughts on his website, he will be able to more fully articulate his opinions to himself and others. He will become impatient with waiting to see what others think before he decides, and will begin to act in accordance with his inner voice instead. Ideally, he will become less reflexive and more reflective, and find his own opinions and ideas worthy of serious consideration.
His readers will remember an incident from their own childhood when the blogger relates a memory. They might look more closely at the other riders on the train after the blogger describes his impressions of a fellow commuter. They will click back and forth between blogs and analyze each blogger's point of view in a multi-blog conversation, and form their own conclusions on the matter at hand. Reading the views of other ordinary people, they will readily question and evaluate what is being said. Doing this, they may begin a similar journey of self-discovery and intellectual self-reliance."
All of these are valid reasons for blogging.
In doing so, I will continue a tradition that began
"In the year of our Lord 1571."
Those words were written by French nobleman, Michel de Montaigne, who broke through the barriers of literature that year by being the first man to write on the topic he knew best--himself.
This extraordinary event was documented by Rudolf Flesch in his book How to write, speak and think more effectively which was first published in 1946.
In chapter 16, Mr. Flesch is quoted as saying:
"He [Mr. de Montaigne]knew very well that this was unheard of. 'Because I found I had nothing else to write about,' he said, 'I presented myself as a subject. When I wrote of anything else, I wandered and lost the way . . . .
If the novelty and strangeness of my idea[s] don't save me,
I shall never come off with honor in this foolish attempt.
It is the only book of its kind in the world . . . .'"
Perhaps Mr. de Montaigne captured something every blogger needs to consider. This effort may proven to be nothing more than a "foolish attempt" to expose our thoughts, ideas, opinions, (my) quirky sense of humor and commentary on life in a very public forum. It may not "come off with honor," as the gentleman feared, but this is my humble contribution to the world of literature
in the year of our Lord 2014.