WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG?

Image by anomalous4 via Flickr

IF A CAT CAN LEVITATE, SURELY AN AUTHOR CAN.
IT SHOULD ADD A CERTAIN SOMETHING
TO MY WRITING.

Department of Introspection While The Internet Is Down

I have had so many computer problems since I first started a using a personal computer seriously in 1986 – over a quarter of century ago – that I’m surprised that I now deal with them with equanimity. I must be mellowing. Today, for instance, though offline due to some gremIin despite the ever increasing use I’m making of the internet (though using Chrome, Gmail, Google Apps, Blogger, Evernote, and other web based software), I’m continuing to work by operating the old–fashioned way. I’m utilizing the copy of MS Word that’s installed on my laptop instead of the Cloud. As long as that continues to function, and I can write, I seem to be able to get through the day temporarily disconnected from the digisphere without frothing at the mouth. Writing is my Zen, so to speak. I may move on to levitation.

Why am I blogging?

Am I doing it because everyone says authors should if they are to sell any books, or to indulge my ego; or am I seeking to build it into a high traffic web site to make money; or am I just writing for the sake of writing? Or do I merely regard blogging as a test of my writing skills, a challenge I’m determined to master.

I am definitely of the view that billions of us are being manipulated to spend a great deal of time doing stuff in the digisphere that is more distraction than substance, and decidedly destructive in its effects. However, I don’t automatically include blogging in that category. True, some blogs are so bad that one is tempted to advise the author to go stand on the edge of a skyscraper in a high wind while drinking a pint of beer while doing a handstand, but at the top end of the scale many blogs are terrific; and it’s still an evolving format.

As best as one can know one’s own mind – we humans are funny in that regard – the primary purpose of this particular blog is to enable me to talk to talk to you, my readers (both current and prospective), both to say thanks for the extraordinary support I’ve received over the years, and to encourage you to buy new books (which you will soon be able to do after a long hiatus). Everything else, if I am to be honest about is, is secondary.  

Have I found the right blend of content, humor and length as yet? I don’t think so – but the journey is half the fun.

Department of “The Damn Internet Isn’t Working Yet.”

Quote from my friend Chris Carrdus after an abortive conversation with Technical Support who, as normal, admitted no corporate fault: “The Cloud – a fabulous parking space for responsibilities.”