What about BoB?

I feel the need to get my Blog on Blogs out of the way before I find myself too deep in this forest. It's not that I feel I owe an explanation or apology, but there's a layer of hypocrisy that needs to be confronted. See, I always disliked blogs (and bloggers) and openly dismissed them as soap boxes for the self-righteous and self-important ever since they sprouted on the social landscape. The Jessica Cutler story didn't do the cause any favors in my mind, but I admit much of my initial disdain relative to that scenario was rooted in jealousy over the girl getting a book deal out of it. I have not read her book but did flip it open one day while perusing the aisles at Borders to check out her prose. Of course the very page I flipped to portrayed a scene where the protagonist is being bent over a desk after work hours. Suddenly I flashed back to the days of my mall rat childhood when my friends and I regularly detoured into Walden books, tucked Playboys into larger Rolling Stones, and feverishly thumbed through the pages. I digress...

Most of my clients are strategic communications and interactive marketing firms. Web 2.0 is sweeping across this space, landing me in meetings with bloggers and social marketing professionals on behalf of said clients. I wish I could frame some charming moral to the story twist here, but the simple fact is I have thoroughly enjoyed these interfaces. My judgements and stereotypes were blind and really based on a fear of something I could not or did not wish to invest time or energy in understanding. Bloggers are real people too, man!

Aside from that epiphany, I truly enjoy writing. That's not entirely true. To put it more accurately, I truly enjoy the romantic concept of calling myself a writer. Writing actually terrifies me because, no matter how much I believe I have to say, the agonizing process of finding the right words to express myself weighs me down like a bag of bricks. Prior to Jack's splash into my life almost 2 years ago, I dedicated more time to that agony. It's safe to say over 50 unfinished pieces litter my hard drive this very moment. So I'm going to look at this avenue as a cathartic way to channel some Raymond Carver and get back into it.

A blogger I recently met (check him out: http://www.andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/) gave me this piece of advice:

Editorially, just keep going. Once you get a good body of posts under your belt, you'll get a feel for what works for you and what doesn't. It's like working out, man: you have your good days and your bad days, but as long as you keep getting to the gym you're doing pretty good. Just 'cause your ripped abs aren't on the cover of a magazine doesn't mean you're not getting into shape -- metaphorically speaking.

That's good stuff. Many thanks, Jeff.

Okay, so that's off my chest. Now I can move on to more (self) important topics of my own...