There are millions of people out there, each one adding to the cyber-gas of the blogosphere.  So why, exactly, ought I add one more voice?  What Thos. Jeff’n described as a “decent regard” for one’s fellows’ opinions suggests something in the way of an excuse explanation should be offered.

Initially, I am doing this because my dear friend and cheerleader, ‘Sam, has been on my case to do this very kindly encouraged me to start this experiment for some time now, to the point of supplying helpful literature on the subject.  Secondly, I am doing this because talking my computer screen doesn’t help any more, and besides the folks in the office are getting spooked by it.

Oh, I suppose most of the standard other pretexts apply, all the way from “to see if I can actually do this” all the way to “who knows? it might be fun,” to “maybe someone will heave money my way” to “I sure sound reasonable as hell when I’m lecturing my speedometer on the drive in to work each morning.”

But maybe the real reason is the human desire for a captive audience.  Start a blog and you’ve got somewhere you can gas on and on about what interests you.  Sure; you’ve no assurance that anyone will actually read what you’ve thrown out there, but at least no one can unfriend you, or have your posts sent immediately to a spam filter, or report you for cyber-stalking.  With a blog I can pour forth idiocy, triviality, bile, and gems of wisdom in any quantity I please and these little trons on the server have to sit there and take it like men.

The above considerations are all the more important when you have good reason to think (in part because those who are good enough friends to be able to wound you in all charity have said as much) that . . . well, you’re really the only person who’s interested in what interests you.

So there.  Maybe that’s it.  I’m blogging to get it out of my system.

But thank you, ‘Sam, for unstoppering what I hope will prove to be the genie from the bottle, and not merely the vials of wrath.