Here’s the first blog entry that I’ve ever written.

I’ve been quietly critical of blogs, mainly because I thought that they gave people an over-inflated sense of self importance (that sounds awfully jaded; I didn’t really spend that much energy being critical of bloggers–I was just a little condescending toward them).  However, since I wisely kept my blog criticism internal (until now), I can join the blog ranks without considering myself too much of a hypocrite.  Here are a few reasons that I decided to make a blog, ranked in descending order of importance.

1. To improve my writing. I feel that the ability to write well is a fine skill to have, and to become a good writer, one must practice. I don’t pretend to be a great writer now, but I would like to improve my writing. To that end, if readers have any criticism of grammar, I invite them to post their recommendations. While I welcome criticism on grammar, I’ll likely be less open to criticisms on content. I’m just sayin’.
2. To leave a more accurate record of myself. This is where I manifest my over-inflated sense of self importance. I feel that journals, books of remembrance, etc. often don’t paint a comprehensive picture of an individual because they are focused on narrative or spiritual matters. I’d like to leave something that gives a little more of my personality, so I’ll try to write lots of blog entries that reflect my personality.
3. Because I’m jealous of others’ blogs. I envy that bloggers get so much attention for their mundane ramblings. This is probably a more reprehensible reason than my over-inflated sense self importance.
4. To be a reference. This is very likely a pipe dream, but if I discover something fascinating and record it here, maybe it will show up on a Google search at some point and be of use to somebody.

If anybody out there decides to read my blog, I hope that my entries are entertaining, at a minimum.  Perhaps they’ll even be insightful or educational too. If you are an experienced blogger, a critical observer of blogs, or a person that has some other insight into blogging, feel free to post any blog advice as comments to this entry.