Another One Bites the Dust

For years now I have been opposed to blogging. But just like my battle to resist the MP3 player, my inner battle between modesty and blogging is over. RIP modesty....another one bites the dust.

Modern technology 2 --- Adria's Modesty 1
(I consider my continued reluctance against Twitter to be a victory on my part.)

It isn't that I think poorly of blogs, or even bloggers for that matter, its that I simply don't get it. I don't get who would want to read what I have to say. Even more so, I don't get who reads ALL those blogs! I mean really, there are a LOT of blogs out there. Does anyone even know what the proportion of bloggers (writers) to blogees (readers) is? It seems obserd that so many people are writing to....well....no one! I mean who actually reads these things? It's beyond obserd even....it's.....well it's narcissistic!

To think that I have anything to say that other people want to read is narcissism at its best. Not to say that all bloggers are narcissists, but I am not a specalist on any of the topics I will be discussing, nor I am a journalist, hell I am not even a well respected professional. To me blogs done by commonfolk like myself are online journals or diaries, at their worst, and online editorials, at their best.

What I do get is the hypocrisy of everything I just said. I just blogged about how I don't like blogs. That is extremely hypocritical, and I get that. So I guess the only thing I have left to explain now is how exactly I succumbed to the blogging world and how I hopefully can justify my own apparent narcissism. Thus, I leave you with my reasons for blogging. Judge me as you will (I know I have).

Reason #1: I need to write a journal.
In about a month's time I will be serving in the Peace Corps in the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic. In the past when I have traveled, I always regretted not keeping a journal. Sometimes I would start one, but I could never keep it up. As a result I have an abundance of blank-paged books with only about ten pages of written information. I am hoping that in keeping my thoughts on the internet I will a) lessen the amount of journals I carry, and b) have a devoted circle of friends and family memebers who will force me to keep up with the writing.

Reason #2: I type faster than I handwrite.
I know it seems like a simplistic, almost pathetic excuse for creating a blog, but I will attempt to validate it nonetheless. My hand hurts after writing for so long. On top of that, my mind thinks much faster than my hand could ever document. Therefore, typing is a better medium in which to express my thoughts.

Reason #3: I need to practice writing.
I just finished my Master's degree. I took almost no time off between my Bachlor's degree and my Master's program. This is the first time since I was 4 that I have not been in school. Keeping in mind the old adage, "If you don't use it, you lose it," this is a scary thought. I like to write, and over the many years of my education I like to think that I have gotten quite good at it. Writting is one skill I do not wish to lose. So I will use this as my practice, and as such I expect anyone who actually reads this to keep me on my toes!

Reason #4: My friends and my family (erm Mom) have requested updates.
And here it is, my final reason which I hope will justify my blog and erase the shame of being a self-labeled narcissist. I am writing this blog for the completely selfless reason of putting my close friends and family members at ease while I live abroad for the next 27 months (insert angel face with halo here). I know what you are thinking, "But Adria, can't an email do the same thing? Why don't you just write an email?" And to you ponderous reader I say, "NO!" I am horrible at keeping up via email, and writing one email to evey person in my life takes a lot of time. Not that I don't think you all aren't worth it, you definitely are, but that my time on the internet may be limited in the DR and thus a mass media update serves me the best.


With that judge me as you will: narcissist, hypocrit, both, selfless angel who only wants to put her mother at ease....whatever. I wrote my first blog and it is too late to turn back now.