Who got carried away with his writing?
That would be me.
Web logs, or online diaries like this one, are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they are sometimes interesting views into another person’s character; other times, they aren’t. Most of the time, it isn’t what the person writes but how they write it, but they begin to blur the line between interesting thought and contrived thought that’s had for the sake of an interesting anecdote.
Do I need a book to write this stuff?
I will set forth a foundation for this blog—a manifesto, if you will, of the things I want to accomplish with it. Not a grandiose manifesto, mind you, just things to keep in mind as I continue to write.
First off, blogs I like, Dooce. She has a certain spark of creativity and energy that seems to bring people to her. She is honest and keeps her stories to the point. They are plain and simple but have her presence. You know she is a person who has a real life with real emotions. It isn’t about grandiose stories, but rather finding the grandiose in the commonplace Ok, I got to watch that “new age” shit.
Um- Little Yellow Different is very funny. Plus, he’s gay, so you know he’ll have a different take than my boring straight thoughts.
Second- Attitude. I like sites with a good positive attitude. I’m not one for depressing weblogs. Who wants to log onto a nebbish’s site where they only complain about things? Who would come back? Nobody… Except for Jews, or people raised by Jews from a very young age (I’ll explain later).
While I want to be honest, I also want to keep things positive (and interesting).
Third- design Well, I think I have that mostly covered. I’m pleased with the design of the site. I’ll keep it.
Fourth- Updates. This is a hard one to keep going. So many weblogs start off strong but peter off after the second week. I guess it’s the nature of the beast. Other things are bound to spring up in my life that will push the blog out of the way. It’s inevitable. I will try to keep myself motivated to write in it almost every day if possible… Once a week, I promise… but certainly no less than once a month I will write something.
Fifth- Humor. This is an important one. I mean, who could forget Dooce.com’s tirade about farts?
But there, there in Monroe, Washington, perhaps all over the Pacific Northwest, I guess it’s okay to laugh at someone’s bellowing, yodeling fart in a public restroom, because right after she let that stuttering bomb rip, a woman in the stall next to mine started laughing uncontrollably. And I’m not talking about a gentle, muffled laugh, or a laugh that could possibly pass for cough. The woman in the stall next to mine was belly laughing, cackling like a crazed hyena, heehawing at the other woman’s fart. -Dooce
Humor keeps people coming back. I want to keep people coming back. I want people to like me. I’m as insecure as the next person, so I’ll change if you don’t like me. I’m pretty good on that one as well. At least in real life, I make most people laugh. If I could put that over into the written word, dare I say it, I would be unstoppable.
I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed now and enjoy these newfound ideals that I will forget by tomorrow.
*fart*
