Welcome (original first post)

In a friend’s blog a few months ago, I responded to a post in which she highlighted an article in NY Magazine about an NYU student who wrote a scathing assessment of the New York literary scene. Though I know virtually nothing about said scene, the uproar I witnessed in several blogs caused me to think about the purpose of blogs.

Blogs are an uncomfortable artistic medium for me, something between cerebral vomit, hastily scribbled break-up poetry and (rarer still) a few aesthetically decent words strung together forming an original thought. Part of me still sees blogs as a juvenile libation meant to spark creativity, where inevitably the words are drunk with their own self-importance, the author’s “feelings” a daily source of inspiration. The other part sees the potential for a valid and articulate source of art, a refreshing down-to-earth approach that again totes honesty as it’s foundation.

I’ve seen both…. I feel the two styles shouldn’t mix.

I continue on to note a primary rule of journalism: be a filter. This is difficult in blogs because when you self-publish like this, an untrained writer acting as his/her own editor lets things slide that a separate editor would parse down or scrap altogether. This is not to detract from more sentimental writing of a non-journalistic style. Stream-of-consciousness (or rants or  is quite a valid way to express oneself. Put simply, sentimental posts and articles have their place. One must be willing to defend everything they publish that is made available to the public.

That said, I intend to make this different from my first stab at a blog, which began five years ago. I aim for more intelligent drivel this go-around, from which intelligent conversations are borne. However, far be it from me to assume that I will be completely immune from the emotionally-fueled blogging I mentioned earlier. Trust that they (hopefully) will be more intelligible and interesting than oh say the latest drama with my BFF. Not that there is any.

Chances are you stumbled upon this by accident, or by referral. In any case, thanks for looking.