OK, so there’s this Brillante Weblog Award thing, and it’s sort of one-quarter game of Internet tag, one-quarter chain letter and half method to get the word out to folks about good blogs they might want to visit. At least, that’s my take on it.

Anyway, Big Man over at Raving Black Lunatic, bless his soul, nominated and “tagged” me as one four blogs in his part of the chain (he was supposed to do seven, but you can go to his post on this and see why he didn’t).

The rules go like this:

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog

An informal tradition got started with, near as I can tell, the guy who nominated the guy who nominated Big Man, and that was to share seven personal facts. I’m going to pass on that new twist for various reasons, not the least of which is I probably share too much with y’all already and you probably have figured out things about me already that you either don’t need to know and/or don’t want confirmed. 😉

However, so that this won’t be merely a post shouting out other blogs’ glories, I will share seven reasons why I blog.

But first, my nominees (if I’m interpreting the rules right, I can’t nominate Big Man since he directly nominated me; shame about that as I would have otherwise)…

The Field Negro

Ephphatha

Losing My Religion

Black Girl in Maine

Truth for Dummies

Pajiba

I’m only doing six officially because I am leaving off a blog that I would otherwise nominate. But I suspect this Brillante Weblog Award thing would just irritate the author on general principles. That blog is Deus Ex Malcontent. So, even though it deserves to be in my nominee list, we’ll leave it off and And Chez, if you happen to see this post and if I have misjudged your opinion toward this sort of thing, go ahead and do your part of the chain. 

Now, onto the semi-personal:

Seven Reasons Why I Am Doing a Weblog

God Told Me So. OK, not really. No burning bush or anything, anyway. But I am a reasonably shy person by nature in real life, and spreading the gospel isn’t really something I do well face-to-face. I’ve been trying to find a way to use my writing skills to reach out to Christians and non-Christians in an accessible and honest and useful way, and this is it. I’m not sure if it’s “useful” yet for anyone long-term, but we’ll see. But I have prayed long and hard on how to reach people, and the Deacon Blue idea has roots that precede my awareness of weblogs, and so here I am. Not sure what God thinks about my subject matter and use of swearing some days, but it’s who I am. If you want to know more of the “Why” on that front, read the comments for this post.

Virtual Masturbation. If you read Big Man’s blog on this Brillante Award (there’s a link at the beginning of this post), you’ll see this is something he worries about a bit. Is blogging just a form of mental/verbal self-gratification? An empty ego trip? I don’t know. But damn, people used diaries and journals for years to do this crap and vent, so why not a blog in this day and age? And as it turns out, we bloggers do reach people at times and give them good things to think about, things to learn, and reasons to keep their chins up (or down). And it just feels nice to know people are reading my random thoughts, too. And anyone who’s been a reader of mine very long knows I am all for masturbation anyway.

Doing the Occasional Good Thing. As I noted in the paragraph above, there are chances to actually make a difference, however small, in someone’s life with a blog. Preferably, something nice, of course.

Doing the Occasional Bad Thing. There are some people I just don’t like or want to piss off. Even if they never read my stuff, I can do it here rather than connect a Louisville Slugger to the backs of their heads. Much more Christian of me that way, and I’m sure Mrs. Blue, Son of Blue and Little Girl Blue would prefer to see me more often than once a month (and have me not be wearing prison orange).

Exercising My Brain. I like to read, but frankly, I prefer fiction. Nothing wrong with that, because I like well-written fiction, but I do also want to read non-fiction at times, and I want to keep up with news a little, but I just don’t have the time. Or rather, I won’t make the time. Having a blog forces me to actually keep up on certain issues and to visit other blogs, and this always helps expose me to new opinions and new knowledge. And crafting my arguments and thoughts around here also keeps me sharper than I might otherwise be.

Keeping the Writing Skills Honed. I write for a living, but blog writing is a different beast from the kind of writing I do to bring money into the household. Here I can play with styles and approaches I wouldn’t otherwise be able to. And blogging has even gotten me started on writing a novel here in serialized form. Almost everyone I went to high school with and a good share of my college alums expected me to be a novelist eventually. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but now that I’m 40, it’s good to finally get off my ass and start writing one.

Friendships. I am a freelance writer and editor working from home. Making friends once you’re out of college is tough, particularly when you don’t go to a regular office-based workplace. I am not totally without friends, both locally where I live and good people I still know from college and previous professional life, but it can get lonely around here because I don’t have anyone really to “hang out with” mostly. I can get serious cabin fever. And did I mention my wife works at home, too? I love Mrs. Blue and she loves me, but being each others’ best friends only goes so far. We still need to “see other people” for friendships so we don’t get sick of each other. There are people I’ve interacted with online whom I would legitimately classify as friends, or at least the online equivalent thereof. They are good for my sanity.