Style and Substance
Feelings have no place in a blog, as my friend tells me. While I agree that reading someone else's emotional oatmeal may be full of fiber, but low on literary flavor, some measure of touchy-feely content brings value to blogs (think, "I delighted in the ambiance of the turn-of-the-century decor.") But she is correct: blogs should provide insight, not just the ramblings of an online diary. Of course, that's one friend's opinion on style, and I'd like to think she's a friend who knows.
Friends have also suggested I consider a subject of substance, and since I value them as friends of substance, I am listening to their likewise substantive recommendations on content. If I take into consideration the ability to write what I know, I feel confident that this blog should contain three areas of focus.
What I Know
One, I know about me. In fact, I know more about me than any of my friends, so I wager they would find me an expert on the topic. Two, I am a traveling oddity, and I tend to see the places about which most people occasionally recall from high school history. In between the more famous sites, I experience the places about which many people have never even read. Three, I havesuccessfully raised two boys and while the jury of their life experiences deliberates my level of knowledge on this topic, I am able to tell you there are two young men on this planet who carry bits of me into their worlds.
So on the advice of my friends, I am taking a stab at blogging about what I know. I promise to weigh heavy on my travels and life lessons about which they only peripherally know and I will avoid the syrupy slobber they do not care to read. And having visited forty-nine out of fifty states, I should be able to find a place, a topic, or a lesson that might just serve as advice to my friends.
Feelings have no place in a blog, as my friend tells me. While I agree that reading someone else's emotional oatmeal may be full of fiber, but low on literary flavor, some measure of touchy-feely content brings value to blogs (think, "I delighted in the ambiance of the turn-of-the-century decor.") But she is correct: blogs should provide insight, not just the ramblings of an online diary. Of course, that's one friend's opinion on style, and I'd like to think she's a friend who knows.
Friends have also suggested I consider a subject of substance, and since I value them as friends of substance, I am listening to their likewise substantive recommendations on content. If I take into consideration the ability to write what I know, I feel confident that this blog should contain three areas of focus.
What I Know
One, I know about me. In fact, I know more about me than any of my friends, so I wager they would find me an expert on the topic. Two, I am a traveling oddity, and I tend to see the places about which most people occasionally recall from high school history. In between the more famous sites, I experience the places about which many people have never even read. Three, I have
So on the advice of my friends, I am taking a stab at blogging about what I know. I promise to weigh heavy on my travels and life lessons about which they only peripherally know and I will avoid the syrupy slobber they do not care to read. And having visited forty-nine out of fifty states, I should be able to find a place, a topic, or a lesson that might just serve as advice to my friends.
