I Probably Think This Blog Is About Me
12/02/2003 15:04 Filed in: Personal
Well, okay...I'll give this blog thing a try, but does anyone really care?
My own internal objections to writing a "Blog" ("web log" for the neophytes) are twofold.
First, it just seems so vain . I mean who am I to think that anyone would would be interested in reading anything that I have to say--especially on a regular basis? Every time I hear of someone starting a a blog, I kinda raise my eyebrows and voice an internal "hmmm.... ."
Second, it's just another thing I am supposed to on a daily basis. I have trouble doing things on a weekly basis (like turning in my lesson plans and posting my grades to the web). I don't even make my bed everyday (actually, I don't sleep in a bed, but I guess that's a subject for a later blog).
I mean daily things... I would like to read my Bible daily, pray daily (i. e. multiple times daily), workout at the gym daily, watch the news daily to stay current, keep my desk neat and tidy daily, translate a verse or two daily from the Bible out of the original languages so I don't lose what I learned in seminary . But Sheesh, I think if I was able to do all of that daily, I wouldn't be able to go to work or sleep.
So why am I doing this? Well first of all I have had more than one person (that means two persons) suggest that I write one. See... there goes that vanity thing which I believe is inherently at the bottom of anyone's motive to keep a blog.
Plus, in reality, I have many thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of topics. For instance, I often go see a movie and then sit down and write a review that I email to my friends or use as discussion with my classes. I guess that I have lots to share with others, although that still doesn't necessarily imply that anyone is really interested.
Finally, I have this .Mac (pronounced DOT MAC) with Apple (yes, I'm a proud Mac user who will only give the platform up when you pry my mouse from my cold, dead... nevermind). One of the perks of having a .Mac account is you get free software every now and then. About a month ago, one of the free offerings was this program call iBlog from Lifli Software . Since I had masses of people (okay, again, two) urging me to write a blog, I downloaded it, and it has sat on my hard drive snoring away for about a month. The nifty thing about this software is that it integrates painlessly and effortlessly. with my website that is part of my .Mac account (where you are reading this, right now). This is my first entry, and I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like all I have to do is hit save and it is added to my my homepage. Pretty nifty, eh? But if you're reading this, I guess it worked.
So...here we are.
Okay let's set some ground rules. Actually, these are rules for myself. I am not going to write an entry everyday. If you come here looking for something from me everyday, you will be disappointed, plus you need to get a life. I mean, I've read other people's blogs before, but I don't read anyone's blog everyday. I guess the opposite of feeling that writing a blog is a vain thing is to read someone else's blog everyday. In other words, I don't have a high enough opinion of anyone that I feel I need daily inspiration from them. My goal is to read my Bible everyday, and I don't hit that 100%, so I certainly am not going to read what someone else says everyday.
But I will write as thoughts hit me, or as I see movies, or when opinions on a particular issue are strong. What will I write about? Probably not much about my personal life. It's that vain thing again that I would prefer to avoid at least as much as possible. I have no illusion that you are the least bit interested in reading about what I had for lunch or who I spent time with Friday night.
But I will write about things I am interested in under the broad categories of religion, technology, culture, movies, and books...and occasionally politics.
If you're really interested, I would recommend checking back maybe once a week. I have no idea how often I will write, but like I said, it won't be everyday. If this becomes a burden or if absolutely no one is paying attention, I'll pull it from my website.
By the way, as we go, if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, or rebuttals, feel free to email me (rmansfield@mac.com). Unless you ask me not to, I will address them here.
Until then...watch this space.
Quick side note department: This iBlog software has a built in spellcheck like that in MS Word where misspelled words get underlined in red. Up above it didn't give any protest to my use of "kinda" (which I like to use a lot even though I know it is not a word). However, it does put a red line underneath the word "blog" and "iBlog." How ironic is that?
My own internal objections to writing a "Blog" ("web log" for the neophytes) are twofold.
First, it just seems so vain . I mean who am I to think that anyone would would be interested in reading anything that I have to say--especially on a regular basis? Every time I hear of someone starting a a blog, I kinda raise my eyebrows and voice an internal "hmmm.... ."
Second, it's just another thing I am supposed to on a daily basis. I have trouble doing things on a weekly basis (like turning in my lesson plans and posting my grades to the web). I don't even make my bed everyday (actually, I don't sleep in a bed, but I guess that's a subject for a later blog).
I mean daily things... I would like to read my Bible daily, pray daily (i. e. multiple times daily), workout at the gym daily, watch the news daily to stay current, keep my desk neat and tidy daily, translate a verse or two daily from the Bible out of the original languages so I don't lose what I learned in seminary . But Sheesh, I think if I was able to do all of that daily, I wouldn't be able to go to work or sleep.
So why am I doing this? Well first of all I have had more than one person (that means two persons) suggest that I write one. See... there goes that vanity thing which I believe is inherently at the bottom of anyone's motive to keep a blog.
Plus, in reality, I have many thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of topics. For instance, I often go see a movie and then sit down and write a review that I email to my friends or use as discussion with my classes. I guess that I have lots to share with others, although that still doesn't necessarily imply that anyone is really interested.
Finally, I have this .Mac (pronounced DOT MAC) with Apple (yes, I'm a proud Mac user who will only give the platform up when you pry my mouse from my cold, dead... nevermind). One of the perks of having a .Mac account is you get free software every now and then. About a month ago, one of the free offerings was this program call iBlog from Lifli Software . Since I had masses of people (okay, again, two) urging me to write a blog, I downloaded it, and it has sat on my hard drive snoring away for about a month. The nifty thing about this software is that it integrates painlessly and effortlessly. with my website that is part of my .Mac account (where you are reading this, right now). This is my first entry, and I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like all I have to do is hit save and it is added to my my homepage. Pretty nifty, eh? But if you're reading this, I guess it worked.
So...here we are.
Okay let's set some ground rules. Actually, these are rules for myself. I am not going to write an entry everyday. If you come here looking for something from me everyday, you will be disappointed, plus you need to get a life. I mean, I've read other people's blogs before, but I don't read anyone's blog everyday. I guess the opposite of feeling that writing a blog is a vain thing is to read someone else's blog everyday. In other words, I don't have a high enough opinion of anyone that I feel I need daily inspiration from them. My goal is to read my Bible everyday, and I don't hit that 100%, so I certainly am not going to read what someone else says everyday.
But I will write as thoughts hit me, or as I see movies, or when opinions on a particular issue are strong. What will I write about? Probably not much about my personal life. It's that vain thing again that I would prefer to avoid at least as much as possible. I have no illusion that you are the least bit interested in reading about what I had for lunch or who I spent time with Friday night.
But I will write about things I am interested in under the broad categories of religion, technology, culture, movies, and books...and occasionally politics.
If you're really interested, I would recommend checking back maybe once a week. I have no idea how often I will write, but like I said, it won't be everyday. If this becomes a burden or if absolutely no one is paying attention, I'll pull it from my website.
By the way, as we go, if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, or rebuttals, feel free to email me (rmansfield@mac.com). Unless you ask me not to, I will address them here.
Until then...watch this space.
Quick side note department: This iBlog software has a built in spellcheck like that in MS Word where misspelled words get underlined in red. Up above it didn't give any protest to my use of "kinda" (which I like to use a lot even though I know it is not a word). However, it does put a red line underneath the word "blog" and "iBlog." How ironic is that?