Why?

Deb (Life As A Parent) had an interesting meme come through her place: Why do we blog? The meme asks bloggers to list five reasons why they write, which I thought would be interesting to think about in light of some of the things I've been thinking about concerning blogging lately. I need something I can refer back to in my darker moments. Therefore, five reasons why I blog:

1. Obviously, I blog to express my opinions on various things going on in the world. After nearly 22 years together, Mrs. S. is sick and tired of hearing me pontificate, not to mention scream at the TV news (although she does a fair amount of screaming at news anchors herself). Most of the guys I work with think I'm nuts, and I haven't had time the last few years to do the political work and rabble-rousing I used to do. So this blog provides an outlet for my stray opinionating.

2. I have a lot of random thoughts, but they don't always seem to cohere. I look at blogging as a way to try to gather my opinions and put them together in a way that makes sense.

3. I roam all over the internets and see all sorts of interesting things. This gives me a chance to call attention to some stories and other matters going on that I feel need to be better publicized.

4. I want to leave something that I can look back at in later years and say that I was here riding the merry-go-round. It's a sort of history of myself and how I related to whatever was happening at the time. Also, as I continue to develop my opinions and my knowledge, I can look back on my archives and compare how I felt at any particular time to what I think about an issue at that moment. Provided, of course, that Google sees fit to support the archives of millions of blogs years into the future, which is not guaranteed by any means.

5. Most importantly, I blog because of the many people I've met online. When I was a kid, I wanted a ham radio so I could talk to people all over the world. I never did buy a ham rig, but I found the internets to be far mor interesting, not to mention cheaper. As a result of blogging, I have people from upstate New York, southern California, and Alberta by to chat regularly, not to mention days like the one when a gaggle of Swedes came through here to read about Simon Pretty. (I'm guessing they must have had something about Pretty on Swedish TV that day.) The great thing about blogs is that each one creates its own unique community. Go by Sonia's or Mixter's or anyone else on the blogroll and you'll meet another unique group drawn together by that blogger's particular talents and interests. These little communities all form part of a larger whole, one that nurtures and supports us, and helps us all feel a little bit less crazy.

Since I wasn't officially tagged, this meme is fair game for anyone who wants to blog on it themselves, comment on it, or ignore it.