Why blog, why now? You really don't have time for this...

Thanks me, good question.

Over the last ten years I have thought about starting blogs on several topics. Yes, I said ten years, it was at least that long ago that I wanted to keep a log (didn't know what a blog was back then), of the books on tape I was listening to. The plan was to review both the books and the readers. I was listening to so many that I had favorite readers the way normal people have favorite actors.

Back then I was commuting to work five days a week, stuck in traffic for a minimum of 10 hours a week (fifteen being more the norm) and I would also bring by BOTs into the office and listen to them there. So I was listening to at least 50 books a year in addition to the 50 books a year I was reading.

However, now I only go into the office two or three times a week and I live closer to the office so I spend much less time in the car. Because of this I not only don't get through as many BOT (or Books on CD these days) but I often go weeks between BOTs actually listening to the radio (NPR and Dave Ramsey mostly). So that is reason number one, to talk about BOTs and how they changed my life; more on that later.

The second reason I decided to take the plunge is that everything else I do online is in the third person. Because the website I do about Philip José Farmer, is about him, owned by someone else, and many people contribute to it on a regular basis, I always say "We have added..." or what have you. The only myspace page I have (or want) is Phil's. Not that I'm complaining, I love Phil dearly and consider it an honor to be his "voice" online, but I sometimes might want to say things online that do not reflect the views of the management...

The third reason I'm doing this is to start a discussion about Philip José Farmer and the best way to get his books back into print. Understand I am not Phil's agent, I can't do anything without the agent's permission and in the past the agent has been less than receptive to most of my ideas. So far Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip José Farmer has been my only real triumph in this endeavor.

The fourth reason I'm doing this is because I want to write. Publishing Farmerphile has been an amazing project for me. I've learned more about writing by watching Christopher Paul Carey edit it, than I ever did in school (doh! stupid engineering degree). I've noticed however that just about every single person I know is a better writer than I am. Hopefully blogging, if not daily then at least weekly, will force me to improve my writing. I have several stories and at least one book I want to write...but then again, don't we all.

So, why start blogging now? Well it's John Scalzi's fault. Ever since I discovered his blog, Whatever, I have been checking it several times a day. It has supplanted Doonesbury and Dilbert as the first thing I read when I get online each day. His blog often takes me to other blogs and I've now created a folder in my links with a dozen blogs in to check daily. Luckily most of them don't update daily or I'd really never get anything done.

So this is it, I'm taking the plunge. I have a lot on my mind, but will I really have time to write about it? More importantly will I be able to post blogs that are under 500 words, or will I always blather on like this?