Day 12: How you found out about blogging and why you have one

How did I find out about blogging? That's like asking how I found out about the internet. It's just always been there, hasn't it? If I had think about it though, I'd say my earliest recollection of blogs would be from when I was back in high school. Year 9, I think. One of my friends had a LiveJournal and, somehow, the idea of pouring one's life out for the entire world to read appealed to me too. So I created one too. I suppose mostly I was just interested in reading what said friend had written in his: he was far more candid there than he ever was in person, and I've always enjoyed seeing how different people's online personas are. People are far more honest on the internet, whether it's because they think their real-life friends will never read it, or that they simply don't care because they don't ever have to make eye contact with anyone while doing so.

But on the other hand, I also wanted a more permanent record of my life. Even if I'd ever bothered to write in a hardcopy diary (which I'd be incapable of because I edit far too much), it probably would have been lost along the way. And what good are memories, really? They're so flawed and it's easy to forget the true ones and invent false ones. Not to mention they're a poor reminder of what you were feeling at any given time. So that's why I started my first blog.

Looking at it now though, I don't know what I was thinking. It's terribly written, full of netspeak, and I've found at least one incorrect use of "your" and "you're". How embarrassing for somebody who now prides herself on her grammar. Fortunately, my subsequent blogs have been a little more tolerable. In the meantime, I've had a myspace blog, another LJ, a blog on a forum I frequent, and now this one. Apparently I've had this account for over two years, so obviously I had intended to start writing it sooner too.

Back to the reasons though. I'd like to say I still blog because I want a record of my life, and perhaps that's true to some extent, but these days I just like to talk about things. My internal monologue takes the form of a blog and it only makes sense to actually get it down. I want somewhere to write about all of the things that interest me - even if it is an eclectic mix - and have people read it. It doesn't even matter if it's only a few random people from around the world who will never actually comment. Most people I know aren't that interested in the same things I am and are probably sick of hearing all the random little facts about language, the brain, and humanity that I'm always coming out with. So here I am in my own little corner of the internet, writing about nothing significant and hoping that I can actually keep it up for more than a few months this time.