Journal? Nah. Blog? Yeah. Part 2

(Tuesday, September 9, 2008) Mowing the Grass: Woke up this morning with an itch in my brain to start a blog. So here we go. I think I'll start mowing the grass and painting in the lines. BBL.

That was my first “Left Field Wander” blog entry, nearly a year ago. The “grass” and “lines” phrases reference a baseball field (“left field”).

I don’t know why I had this urge to blog. Maybe it was because my friend Melissa Chang kept telling me to read hers. Maybe interesting things were starting to happen in my life? Or, maybe I was getting bored in retirement.

At any rate, I dove right in. Setting up the blog was fun. I’ve always been a closet web designer, having started maybe six to eight websites in the past dozen years or so. There’s something quite creative about the process.

Before I regained control of myself, more blogs were added to my repertoire:

· Stamps ‘n Things (stamp collecting) on September 17, 2008.
· The Monkey Seas (my monkey figurine collection) on October 21, 2008.
· A Place for My Taste (restaurants I’ve been to) on November 11, 2008.
· Heart-Throb Pinchy (my “pet monkey’s” travels) on March 29, 2009.

Today, they are thriving. The thing about writing a blog is that there’s so much to write about. One can post pictures, videos, music … you name it. You can’t do that with a written journal. Maybe that’s why blogging appeals to me – the variety, the possibilities, the opportunity to be creative in a way that just plain words on paper can’t provide.

In talking with other bloggers, I often ask if they feel a responsibility to post an article every day. All of them said they did not. Some said they post by necessity, when something happens that is directly related to the theme of their blogs.

But I do feel a responsibility to write something each day, especially in this blog I fondly refer to as my “Wandering” or “Wanders” blog. It’s not quite as critical to post in my other blogs, as they aren’t time sensitive.

I use Google Analytics, which tells me how many people have read my blog each day, what they have read, how long they’ve hung around, and where they’re from. On days that I skip posting, the visitor numbers dip. So it behooves one to post regularly, if only to maintain interest and the visitor count.

Where do I get my ideas? From watching HLN in the morning, from watching my favorite morning news and talk shows, from reading the newspaper, from laughing at the funnies, from movies I’ve seen, from books I’ve read, from creative pieces written over the years, from things that irk me or make me laugh, from my experiences as a college professor … but mostly from just plain living – past, present and hopefully future.

Blogs are very personal, indeed.

Blogging gives meaning and purpose to my life. It affords me an opportunity to exercise my brain so it doesn’t turn to mush during my retirement. It gives me renewed interest in local events, trying new restaurants, as well as rediscovering history and locations that I’ve experienced in the past.

It keeps me alive. So I’m going to keep on keeping on.