No, Seriously: Why A Blog?

I often think about this blog and why I'm keeping it. Sure, I like to write, and it's a great tool for me to practice something that I consider to be a craft and one that I've enjoyed for practically all of my life. I even think I'm pretty good at it.

Then I look at other blogs – blogs friends or associates have – and I wonder: why do I bother? I'm not chock full of historic tidbits, interesting media snippets, or entertaining parody. I am not the weaver of tales, full of anecdotes and jackpots or daily misadventures.

I have people suggest to me often to write a book about my experiences and I always have the same question: why? I don't have that much exciting going on in my life to fill a book, let alone one that people who don't know me would want to read. Nobody's going to pay to read about my life so far.

Some people are genuinely interested; I get that. The life I lead is not conventional and it's a symbol to some people of truly following your dreams and making them happen. It's also a way for some to live vicariously. I am indeed extremely, insanely fortunate and blessed to have the life I have had from birth to now. A good life? Yes. Unique? Mostly. Worthy of legend for others to pore over with bated eye-breath? Not so much, in my ongoing estimation. Not when there are other, better pieces of work being put out by other people; tales with more adventure and hijinks; tales from other clowns in other circuses – some veterans, some with star-sprinkled whimsy still encrusted in their young eyes.

The truth is, my life has its own routine. Much of the time it's free of entertaining anecdotes or wacky misadventures. When I weigh it against the blogs I read, some of which are written by friends, I think "This is what people want to read. They don't want to hear that my life can be just as day-to-day as theirs. They don't want to hear about frustrations or ruminations or processes."

I've never been the anecdote guy. Even with the encouragement of friends and peers, I consider myself to be last among [not quite] equals. I've never been the prank guy. I've never been the "he's so crazy!" guy. I am not the story of the indomitable spirit that remains cheerful and unwavering in the face of life's various adversities. There are plenty of other blogs to find to read that discuss the quirky, annoying, and frustrating aspects of Japan, Japanese, and life here.

I walk to the store three or four times a week down a big hill and back up. I like it because it's a way to always have exercise even when I don't do my modest regimen on a day. I've been eating a lot more junk food because I've been losing weight. Boo-hoo: skinny boy's stuffing his face like a dumpster because he can't gain weight, let alone keep what little he has. Some of my co-workers are dicks – whose aren't? I can look outside the door and see "the neighbor's dog", which is an attention hound of a giraffe.

Okay, so that last one is really, really interesting and a never-ending source of enjoyment.

So seriously: why a blog?

I still have to figure out the picture thing with the annoying new iPhoto. Drag-and-drop functionality is overrated. I want to be able to open file folders and find the photos I want to find.