Wednesday, May 18, 2005

the miracle of technology

So here I am doing something unbelievably unusual and supernatural for me. I would even call it a miracle.

Many who know me might associate me with words and technology (due to my last job working on the webzine iamnext.com). To these people, it might seem that starting a blog would be a natural thing for me. Yet I remember when I first discovered reading blogs, I subconsciously swore to myself I would never have one of my own. I figured it was too much commitment and too hard to keep regularly updated. All the more recently I continue to unearth the depth of my phobia of commitment and maintenance. I can barely keep a regular (handwritten) journal of my own; I can barely stay on top of responding to the emails in my inbox (despite the fact that I compusively check email several times in an hour). What makes me think I can keep up with blog entries regularly?

But hey, things change. I think technology (among other things) is changing the way I think and live. Like the way it has changed the way I write... I used to have to do a pencil-on-paper draft whenever I wrote a paper or article. Now, that's been excluded from my writing process. Now, I can't even conceive of handwriting a first draft. I can only compose text while at a keyboard. So technology has changed the way I write in a short time.

While my overly pragmatic entries in my handwritten journal (i.e. "This is what I did today, this is who I saw, etc.") , bore me enough to drop it for 11 months of any given year, I've recently found myself thinking differently about the possibility of online journals. I've found that I've been more observant of things I see throughout my day -- whether it be on public transit, on television, online, or in conversations. Some are things that I wonder if others have thought about. Some are things I wish I could share with my friends about perspective in life. Others are simply inane things I might get a kick out of reading several years later. I think technology, specifically the concept of blogging, is changing the way I think about and process life.

And so here I am, doing a totally supernatural thing for me -- starting a blog. Do expect that the frequency of my entries will match my personality -- extremely on and regular vs. extremely off and silent. Nevertheless, I hope you'll enjoy the ride with me.