I've been thinking about my blog. I know, I know, you wouldn't know it if you saw how often I wrote on my blog. But then again, maybe that's the problem.

As I become more and more experienced with the ways of blogging, I have started visiting other people's blogs. There are only a few that I visit with any sort of regularity, but even a couple of random hellos alert me to the fact that my blog is a unique beast.

Many, if not most, blogs seem to be topic-driven. Sometimes they'll be a single-person blog, like mine, or sometimes they'll be group blogs. But the rule is that you can only blog about a certain topic. Like law, Mormonism, or conservative politics. Or whatever. Many people seem to even have more than one blog that they write on, just to keep their topics separated.

Other blogs, like that of my HLS friend and blog inspiration, Jeremy, are a little looser in their standards and read more along the lines of a journal or personal reflections about a personal life, but even Jeremy has a focus. He's in law school and he's a funny guy, so he writes funny things about law school. He has an audience of thousands of people he's never met who are interested in hearing that something funny can indeed come out of law school.

If you look in the left column of my blog page, at the bottom of the stuff there is a green number. That's my site counter (click on it, and you can see all sorts of fascinating data about my readers!). That's how many times my site has been visited (by someone other than me) since May 10, 2004. Right now (as I type this), it reads 153. Moral of the story: I don't have much of an audience.

That's largely my fault. I haven't publicized the existence of my blog to many people, except a few family and friends (you know who you are (you're the only ones reading this)). I would think it would be great to have an audience of thousands of strangers who visit every day to see what kernels of wisdom I have to offer them (that might be a better incentive for me to write more regularly). I could do that by getting links from other friends' blogs (Jeremy's usually nice enough to do that for friends, I've noticed...) and/or getting linked in as part of The Bloggernacle (I'm not sure what The Bloggernacle is exactly, but my impression is that it's simply a listing or network of Mormon-themed blogs). But bloggernacking would mean that I would have to consider my blog a "Mormon blog," and I don't. It's my blog, and I happen to be a Mormon and occasionally talk about Mormon things, but it's certainly not a Mormon blog. On the other hand, it's Mormon enough that I talk about Mormon things with no explanation. My most recent post uses the word "Rameumptom" willy-nilly and that ain't something my Jewish friend Jeremy, for example (sorry, Jeremy--I put a link to your blog, though, so you'll get my 20 readers to add to your thousands!) is gonna understand.

The other thing about my blog that is different from many others is that I am not anonymous (can I say, "I am nonymous"?). Both my first and last names are on the page, I've got a little bio, and until recently I even had my email address (till I started getting too much spam). Many bloggers give themselves a cute code name (I would call myself "Irvington Washing," a reference to Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and a throwback to my 100 Hour Board days (see my bio)). There are times I have wished I were anonymous. That would allow me to say things about people I know (including people who I know read this thing) without them being specifically fingered. But I have decided to remain nonymous because 1) if I have to be anonymous to say something about someone, I probably shouldn't be saying it, and 2) I will own up to my opinions. I know, there's a time-honored tradition of anonymous writing, all the way back to The Federalist and Common Sense. But I ain't gonna be a part of that.

So, you are asking (assuming you've gotten this far), what is the purpose of Matt's blog? I'm not sure. I think I'm still figuring it out. On one level, it's a way to keep in touch with people. I know I have a few friends who read the blog instead of emailing me to find out what's going on with my life.

At another level, it's a personal journal. When I have thought about writing in an official journal lately, I have thought, "Yeah, but I have my blog." The problem with that is that when I was 12 or so I decided that a journal isn't for public (ie, grandkid) perusal, but a way to write down and think out deep, personal thoughts. Things you don't want to spread willy-nilly around the Internet (well, I didn't think about the Internet when I was 12, but you get the idea) (Do I get points for two uses of the term willy-nilly in one post? No, because this post is too long.).

Third, it's a mental exercise. I try to make at least a small percentage of my posts somewhat intelligent. I'm trying to develop writing and thinking skills. It's really a selfish endeavor, I guess. I should be grateful anyone comes here at all.

Thanks for listening.