I found this on a friend's site tonight: It's the dullest blog in the world.
No, I'm not kidding. They are, but I'm not.
The "dullest blog in the world" successfully parodies what is known in the blogosphere as "kitty blogs." Granted, it doesn't have pictures of kitties but it does have all the other excrutiating minutiae that can bore a reader to death and back and to the very point of no return.
I have license to write this, by the way. I serve up fresh minutiae almost daily.
To make my case, here's a fresh quote from the Dullest Blog in the World:
Operating a light switch
March 30
I entered the living room and pressed the light switch, thus turning the light on so that I could see what I was doing. A while later I left the room and pressed the light switch again. The light turned itself off.
Minutiae or not, I love the tongue-in-cheek approach of this blog and plan to go back -- daily.
I signed up for this thing a month ago, I figured I should at least voice my opinion. It's like signing up to vote and never going. It'd be pointless if I didn't talk.
I'm a sophmore at Temple University, and I "blog" because I can never remember anything in my life. I have a horrible memory, picking out small minut details that are meaningless and remembering them for years, but forgetting major events that occured in my life. This blog, or a journal, like in livejournal.com, is a way to help me remember the important things in my life, and lets me go back and view how I was, to know where I came from.
So, the question is, why blog online? Why not get some sort of notebook and do it the old fashion way? I guess it's a matter of motivation. When I see a community built around me and other people doing the same thing, it gives me the motivation to write for not only myself, but for other people, even if it is only a small group. It's just something that helps me sit myself down and write down my memories.
When I was younger, I always wanted to start a journal, but it was always a passing idea. With Livejournal, I was apart of an entity, a group. Reading other people's entries gave me the desire to write more about myself and ideas about what to say. It just helped me actually fulfill something I've always wanted to do because I see other people doing the same thing.
I'm not really sure why I started blogging. I've been aware of the subculture of blogs for a while, mostly through the Instapundit and Poynter. I've enjoyed those and the links I found through them but never felt any strong desire to jump in and crack open Bert's brain® for public display. No, I lost the keys to open that a while back. So for any clue, I guess I have to refer to my initial post that day.
Boredom...sheer boredom I guess. I'd like to think I started this blog because of some higher purpose, maybe because I have something worthwhile to say, or maybe a desire to leave some kind of mark in this world. But that's not really true. Actually, I was inspired by Dave Barry's blog and wanted to see what the hype is. (Hence, the puppies that adorn the right side of the page...they were his original template. I'll leave them for now...throw them some virtual milkbones I guess.)
Anyway, I figured it never hurts to learn something new and I've been meaning to start a journal (not on the net mind you) but the truth is...
I was bored.
So the question might be, why do I still blog? Not really sure of that either. (Just chock full of answers today, eh?) No, after just over a month, I don't presume to be an expert on philosophy of blogging or the reasons behind it or the dementia needed. I guess maybe it just makes me somewhat less bored. (Note to readers of Bert's Blog: I said less bored, not less boring.) Actually, I almost got bored of it kinda quick but some encouragement from a fellow blogger kept me going. (Yes, she's to blame.)
Sometimes it feels like work. Maybe the events of the day left me with little desire to be near a computer. Maybe I just feel I have nothing to say. Or better, nothing clever/ interesting/ worthwhile to say (although some may argue I never did). But most of the time, it's fun to jot down some random thoughts as I sit there jumping from site to site in search of something strange, with my adult beverage at the ready. (Another note to readers: I'm usually never as pretend as I drunk to be.) So maybe that's my niche: weird thoughts about weird stories from a weird guy (huh? What do you mean that's being done already?).
But it doesn't really matter what category folks put me and my blog into. In this short time, I've learned that the site's traffic isn't important to me. It's the vast financial rewards and undying adoration of millions. No, I'm kidding -- although if anyone would like to shower me with either money or adoration, please email me.
I honestly just did want to keep a journal, a partial record of what the hell I was thinking about on a certain day (and the court-ordered psychologist said it might be useful -- no, I jest, it was actually my parole officer). It's a way to help me keep sharp the writing skills (BB readers, shut up) that I developed and enjoyed in college but abandoned for a job in "the fast-paced and exciting world of computers." And it's been interesting looking back at times, somewhat of a learning experience. If others enjoy the peek inside Bert, hey, that's extra icing on the cake.