Round 2

So this is my second attempt at blogging.  Brought about by my discovery this morning that my "spaces" blog had been deleted on March 16, 2011, courtesy of the Windows Live team.  Years of memories and hours of writing vanished in an instant.  Sad, but that's life.  No broken limbs, no shattered hearts, no lives lost.  Just a little piece of recorded history gone down the fiber optic tubes. 

A lesson to me to not take anything for granted.  What is here today may well be gone tomorrow.  In fairness, I hadn't checked my blog in about 5 months.  Life was simply too busy, I got carried away with other things, and when I wanted to get it back, it was gone.  Lesson learned.  On to Round 2.

I've been thinking about getting back into blogging for the last week or so.  It's been nagging at me, always at the back of my mind.  So this morning, I decided to just sit down and do it.  Why this desire to record my thoughts and experiences?  I guess part of it is my dream to one day be an accomplished writer but wanting to do it piecemeal, wherever and whenever I find the time.  Part of it is a need to stay in touch with friends and family without having to re-write my daily experiences in a series of repetitive e-mails.  Part of it is disenchantment with Facebook and the fact that I don't see it much as a communication tool these days; it's become more of a voyeuristic channel into the mundane.  I don't really want to know if someone's flatulence today was caused by the overspiced chili they had last night while downing tequila shots at a popular Mexican hotspot.  I don't mind being one of many copied on the same message, but I am selfish enough to want that message to be original, not a copy/paste inspirational quote of the day.  And I always felt like a bit of an exhibitionist on FB.  So how is it different if I'm writing here?  Well, I figure if people check in on my blog, they are interested in staying in touch with me.  On FB, I am a status or an album.  Here, I think I'll be me.

So I'm sitting here typing and wondering if I really have that much to say?  What do I want to write about?  My travels, my boring days at work, my frustration with a culture that I have struggled to come to grips with for the last five years, my family, my fears, my joys, my dreams?  I guess I just have to get my thoughts in order.  Does anyone really care what I have to say?  Does it really matter?  I guess we'll see.