"Why Bloggers Blog"
by Bucktowndusty
Blog sites are as numerous as their purposes. They range from the narcissistic to the altruistic. Regardless of their intent, though, they are, and will be, an integral part of the 2004-And-Beyond human landscape.
Yet, why do bloggers blog? What's the end game of it all? I blog and often ask myself this question, and honestly I must admit that I do so for selfish reasons.
I've always appreciated writing. I view it as a craft and its practitioners as artisans. I read my "Little, Brown Handbook" constantly and always strive to improve. My blog allows me to attempt this endless and sometimes daunting literary pursuit. (What I write about comes second to just writing. The "what", although important, is the easy part considering people easily fall pray to their own emotions and are easily provoked.)
If I must label myself, I'm a social conservative. Even liberals would have to agree that someone with my political underpinnings must have had a very difficult time dealing with mainstream media before Fox News, conservative radio, and the Internet appeared. I remember constantly shouting at the television, but now blogging affords me a constructive outlet to vent my frustrations.
As a philosophical and conservative blogger, I get to tell others how I feel and possibly change someone's perspectives. I get responses from all over the world, which would have been virtually impossible to achieve without the Internet. In essence, the small man, regardless of ideology, gets to say, "Hear me roar," and they do.
Lastly, I think I blog simply to put a smile on my face each day. Seriously, life is hard enough, and sometimes little can make me happy except for my weekly blog and the sense of accomplishment it gives me. I'm not saying I'm depressed - I have a great wife, house, job, and life - but sometimes my blog is my remedy.
I've had two friends that were depressed, however, and they killed themselves with gunshot wounds to the head. At some point, they must have thought they had no outlet; that they had nothing to be happy for; that their lives didn't matter. Well they were wrong. They DID matter and so do bloggers.
And that is my message this week. Even to the bloggers that I oppose - who hate me and diametrically oppose my viewpoints - I say, "You have an outlet; by all means use it! You have plenty to be happy for; don't forget it! Most importantly, you DO matter."
Blog on!
Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with me? Let me know! |
"Brothers"
by A. Hamilton
At the tingling request of a hundred wine glasses, my son stood to propose a toast at the wedding of his brother, my other son. He spoke of their growing together, of their good times and their bad. He spoke of love and of the lessons learned and the lessons taught. He spoke of their inseparability and of standing back to back in the face of adversity. His words manifest an unspoken rule, "Mess with one - mess with both."
In times of strife, conservatives and liberals, Americans all, had the same brotherly, unspoken rule, "Mess with one - mess with all." That is, until America was dissected with the ideological scalpels of the profiteering Clintons.
Now liberals aren't back to back with their conservative brothers toasting to America's inseparability. Instead, liberals stand with their glasses held high and spew Bush hatred in concert with anti-American countries such as France, Germany and Russia.
In wondering, what will American be like if liberals and their buddies, France, Germany and Russia win control of the White House in the 2004 presidential election?
Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with me? Let me know!
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