We are steadily (and rather, impatiently), convalescing from the joyless experience of a six-day sleepover at St. Luke’s Hospital. As should be understandable, such an unexpected break from one’s routine lifestyle naturally causes him to take particular notice of, and to re-examine, his customary routine and practices. A salient feature of our personal choice of activities is our preference for the writing and dissemination of the present style of authorship, known as the “blog.” As the number assigned to this writing indicates, we have produced and distributed, in excess 0f 640 “Blogs.” We have accordingly elected to dedicate the subject of this writing to the subject blog, itself.
As writing blogs it is prominent among our choice of activities, [and, as we have penned so many], it would appear to be evident that we greatly enjoy the activity; what we nevertheless, detest, is the name, “Blog.” The latter’s sound is the diametric opposite of being euphonious, viz., a sound like “splat,” or “glug,” and would be suitable for the description of something blocking traffic, an artery, or perhaps the current of a small stream. We would have preferred a more pleasing name like, “mini-essay,” “literary reflection,” or perhaps, something like “selected thoughts.” However, like other mainstream American citizens, we traditionally accept the inherited lexicon, as it, acceptably, exists.
Aside from its cacophonous name, the literary form is to be lauded for its many ubiquitous qualities, making it a highly desirable style of written communication; a written form, in our view, somewhere in the mix, between the literary forms of the “belle lettre,” and a personal editorial, written by an author familiar to the reader. It may be observed that there exists no prescribed style nor form to this style of writing, which is ordinarily familiar to a writer’s regular reader; the subject, or content, varies with the author’s inclination.
Because the style of authorship is traditionally informal, it is equally suitable for literary consumption, by both the truly serious and the casual reader. The unpredictable and varied subject matter makes each distinct reading, a fresh and exciting experience. Equally, important, the permissive, liberal format makes possible the author’s utilization of subjects as diverse in distance as the local Dairy Barn is to the Milky Way or, indeed, as light years distant in humanity and moral character, as a Mr. Rogers is to a Donald Trump. All subjects, political, social, literary, gender, anthropological and meteorological, are grist for the Blog’s mill; historical references, current events, personal recollections, social and artistic criticism, civil rights, morality, virtually, any topic of anticipated interest to the reader, may be appropriately discussed and, hopefully, enjoyed.
Lastly, the facile mode of dissemination, viz., by computer e-mail, makes distribution to regular readers, quick and simple, and invites thoughtful and relevant response.
-p.
plinyblogdotcom 