Why do this at all?

It’s a fair question – why blog? Not only why blog, why blog now? The election’s over (possibly including the Washington State Governor’s race, but who knows?) the New Year’s begun, and some of the Blogging vanguard is settling into retirement. Allah is on extreme hiatus, the Commissar has threatened to put the “On Vacation” sign up, and others have considered their tenure.

So, why do it?

For one, it gives me a chance to comment outside of the comment sections of other people’s blogs (and chew up their bandwith – you’re welcome) and to do a bit of ruminating on the side. Besides, with this timing, I can’t be considered to be clawing at the coat-tails of the election, even though it was in the pre-election days when I decided that I probably should get a blog going.

The Commissar, in this post, mentions fear as a motivator – fear of missing out on the bandwagon, fear of disappointing the readers, fear of losing said readers if he takes a vacation. Fear is a pretty powerful motivator, but only if you buy into what you are fearing. Do I want readers? Of course I know I have a few, built-in, readers, (and am extremely grateful for it) but I wouldn’t mind the blogosphere cruising through here every so often. But, this isn’t my primary occupation, nor do I want it to be. Other things come first.I know going into this that my chances of scooping something are in company of three: slim, fat, and a snowball’s in hell. I have no fear of not getting a scoop, because the only way I’d get a scoop is if I bought it, and I don’t have that kind of petty cash laying around.

What is my answer, why do this? The answer is a pure Yiddish shrug – nu, so, I’ll kvetch. Like it or not, here I can do it all I want without comment-hogging or worrying about being off-topic.