(Not so) historic first post

Of all the ways to communicate, why blog? Good question. After all, weblogs are both the lowest common literary denominator and the apex of impersonal communication. If you believe my wife, these portents of the apocalypse are singlehandedly responsible for the decline of letter writing and The New York Times.

Or are they?

Untold millions of people are blogging today, and some pets, all seeking to unburden themselves of thoughts, feelings, random impulses, and something cool on YouTube they simply must share. They labor under the notion that there is something unique about them, something without which the world would be incomplete.

Or would it?

God, how we want to be relevant. What is it about the human condition that makes us think anyone else gives a whit about our every thought and action? I don't know. I have scoffed at blogs, but lately I have come to the conclusion that they are just an electronic manifestation of good, old-fashioned arrogance and self-centeredness. I know I have been guilty of it. I have been known to verbally bludgeon my family and friends with all manner of self-absorbed inanity until they simply turn and walk the other way when they see me coming. My wife's cell phone displays a not-so-subtle reminder to "Be Kind" when it's me calling. But maybe The Blog is the remedy.

Is it?

I am giving in to The Blog. I am posting my pretensions to relevance here for all the world to see, although I fully expect no one will because, in truth, this tripe doesn't matter. I can post it, feel important, and move on. No more will I badger my loved ones; they may read or disregard and no one will be the wiser. It will free me up to be more interested, I think, in the lives of those around me. I think of it as cyber-judo, my own Taoist surrender paradox:

Allow yourself to yield, and you can stay centered.
Allow yourself to bend, and you will stay straight.
Allow yourself to be empty, and you’ll get filled up.
Allow yourself to be exhausted, and you’ll be renewed.

(Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, c. 300 B.C.E.)

I am joining the bloggers, pretending to be "in the know" while knowing full well that my internet ramblings will matter most to me and none else. This is my space to babble and if you're bored, well, surf on.