Inaugural post on a new blog.

Blogs and the people who use them have been the butt of jokes for a while now. Blogs are thought to be made by people with no lives who want to escape from reality, who just interact with the world through a computer screen. Immature, with no social skills, bloggers are thought to be a sort of freak group within the greater society. Sure, real relationships are great, are better, but let's look at that reality outside the window for a second.

While blogging is escapist to some extent the world outside the window resembles a blasted out wasteland. Olympia is somewhat better than the rest, but in most places you find strip malls, no community, people only knowing each other slightly, social alienation to a large degree. The media reinforces this. People have less opportunities to really communicate with each other than they had in the past, to share in some sort of dialogue beyond their own social circle.

There has to be some way to reconnect with each other. Communication and the exchange of ideas and thoughts is a primal need, it's something that reminds us that we're human, that cuts though the feelings of alienation and gives us some sort of mutual recognition----I recognize what you're saying, thereby I recognize your worth, you recognize what I'm saying, therefore you recognize my worth. Enter blogs.

Blogs are a decentralized way to cut through the tendency of society to shut everyone up in their own little boxes and to reestablish the sort of community and the sort of communication and mutual recognition tha real living requires.

I don't like the idea of my primary way of relating to other people coming by way of a computer screen, but if that's what needs to happen temporarily for the real life connections to be made then so be it.

It's late. Posts that'll be more sparkling will come earlier in the day.