It's Hip To Be A Square?

It's not easy for me to feel good about joining the horde of bloggers out there. Having my own "website" or "soapbox" gave me that nice security blanket of pretentiousness that kept me feeling superior to your average Joe's "What I did yesterday" or average Jane's "I wub my kitty so much" blogs.

I mean, I have qualifications! I've been posting blog-style stuff on my website(s) for years! Before it was "cool"! Basically, I've only converted to the dark side to see if I get a nice little commenting community and open up syndication possibilities. At least I (hopefully) distinguished myself from the great unwashed by changing the style sheet to somewhat reflect my actual website. It's just so damn easy to start one of these blogs that it feels...dirty. In a way, it offends me that anyone can do it.

Isn't technology fantastic? We've found these great ways of spreading the word of anything we want and in the end most people want to talk about...themselves! Sure, it's hard not to self-indulge, considering it's something that any person can know everything about. In many cases, you just can't beat real conversation. Bloggers don't get those blank stares from people when they crap on too much like in real life. Maybe conversations are so uncool. That's, like, so last May.

For some reason or another, I'm usually going against the cool, probably stemming from my general dislike for people and popular culture in general. Maybe I misinterpreted those "don't give in to peer pressure" lessons in school and instead alienated myself. I must have a problem with people acting phoney, as Lemming-like following of pseudo-social trends crosses the line with me. I don't know why. It's not like I get satisfaction out of being uncool.

Let's get a little thankful for a moment though; the Internet needs more stuff on it for us to browse. I should encourage more blogging out there, particularly from people who have a point-of-view! We haven't got much hope of mining gold out of the Internet, but the more there is to sift through, the more satisfying it can be to find a gem of a blog or podcast. I don't know how I'd do 40 hours at work each week without the Internet!