Why blog?

I didn't really set out to start a blog. I signed up with Blogger so that I could leave comments on the Althouse blog. After registering with Blogger, it didn't take much more to start my own blog, so click click, here it is.

But am I really a blogger? I don't think so. And that's fine with me. Perhaps it will turn into a blog, but for now, this is a place where I post some garden notes and the occasional short essay. If I ever unearth my old college notes, I'll post some more about Richard Mitchell and the Underground Grammarian.

If I wanted traffic, I'd pick a mundane thing and blog about it every day. Like that pencil blog. But I'm not after traffic. If I were, well, I'd be constantly violating that commandment about not coveting my neighbor's blog traffic.

Right now, I'm happy being a blog reader and leaving occasional comments on my favorite blogs. I'm most active at the Family Scholars Blog. There I'm part of a conversation -- which is what really appeals to me.

And that's what I think the best blogs are -- conversations between writers and readers. This blog is more like a conversation with myself. But done with the awareness that it's archived and accessible to anyone, anywhere. So while I will try to be honest, I won't be shining a light on the dark corners of my psyche.

The Althouse blog provides me with the kind of free-ranging conversation that I used to enjoy in college. Not so much opportunity for that in the life I lead now. I got a compliment from Ann today -- very nice. But if I cut and pasted it here, well, that would make me look like a suck up.

And the Althouse Man is not a suck up.