Sunday, March 05, 2006

Why start a blog now?

I've had an eagerness to join online discussions, beyond the occasional comment, for some time. And yet I have continually delayed the actual decison to start a blog. In part, I haven't had a lot of time in the last year-plus. I'm getting married in six weeks, and of course there is a lot involved in planning that happy event. But, then again, my fiancée has been asking me when I was going to finally start one, so it hardly seems fair to blame it on that. The fact is, though eager to join in, I am also perpetually reluctant (afraid) to commit my thoughts to paper, so to speak. Intermittent attempts to keep some form of regular journal have typically been easy to forget about.

When I met my fiancée, I had just begun re-reading The Recognitions as part of the Gaddis Drinking Club (my only two posts can be found here and here). I was excited to be involved in a group discussion of such a book, and it started off well. But most of the group, myself included, didn't stick with it. I got about halfway through the book and the (very much welcome) new relationship did not afford me the time I needed to read the book and also consult the ancillary materials with the kind of depth of attention I wanted to give it.

Anyway, I've long needed an outlet for my thoughts on certain matters, and also to get in the practice of writing. In recent weeks, I've had complex responses to many things (books I've read, the stupid cartoon controversy, popism vs. rockism, etc) without taking any time to write about them.

I've stayed on the sidelines long enough.

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