Amount to something

A couple of days ago, I made a very subtle change in the tag-line for this site. I then went around to my various online profiles and made the exact same edit, likely missing a few. Here is how it read last week:

A Nashville, Tenn. resident blogging mostly about politics, news media, technology and hockey.

The word blogging moved on to writing. In the absence of hard and fast rules, I consider blogging the active participation in an ongoing discussion with other bloggers. This makes up some sort of “blogging community,” where current events or proposed topics are analyzed at length and then linked to other community members for their thoughts. The typical blogger gets several comments on each post from passionate readers wanting to further add to the discussion.

There are quite a few examples of people being paid to post links and commentary on the Internet for our enjoyment. Many are skilled wordsmiths and unabashed self-promoters. Most have devised a plan to even make more money annually than you or I do with advertising and affiliate links. My hat is off to them.

I am not a blogger.

What you read here is written for no particular audience. I have a couple of friends and co-workers who drop by on occasion. Facebook regularly imports my posts and shares them with friends there. Sometimes I might write something someone feels is worthwhile to share with others, but I rarely return the favor.

I write simply to keep writing.

A few years ago, someone told me that I had better figure out a way to use my background with IT and Web technology to make my way in life, “because [I] certainly won’t make a living by writing.” I have also been told I have zero business-sense. Lacking those two elements would obviously put me at a disadvantage for running a successful blog or being a successful blogger.

As for the rest of the tag-line:

  • I am trying to resist the urge to rant about politics. That is more challenging than I previously imagined.
  • Critiquing the news media is likely akin to armchair quarterbacking, but I do it anyway. It needs improvement.
  • I still try to write a bit about hardware and software. New stuff comes out every single day.
  • There is a gracious and loving God in Heaven. Not entirely unrelated, hockey season starts soon.

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