Why I blog?

Call this a filler column if you must, but the truth is, I get this question a lot and believe it or not I ask myself it a lot as well. A day like today, where I’m having a case of blogger’s block on a column about the reality of Children of Men, actually causes me physical and mental stress. Why then do I do it? Is it that chump change I earn thanks to Google AdSense? Is it the hope that I’ll be discovered and get 1 million hits a day? No and no, the truth is I do it for a couple of reasons.

First and foremost, I blog because, despite days like today, I actually enjoy writing… no check that I must write. I’ve been a writer as early as I can remember, even before I could physically write. As an only child I created these massive sprawling tales for my Star Wars, Tron, and GI Joe figures to play out. Each figure was given a new name and a new identity. No longer was a Stormtrooper in speedbike gear just another grunt, now he was Nightstalker a being with psychic powers who had to wear a suit of armor to contain his power. Sometimes I’d write the stories out but mostly they’d stay in my head and adapt to changes like new toys, planets (i.e. furniture), and my age (around age 10 there started to be more romance storylines going on). In school I loved creative writing and when I had to do a report I’d almost always try to steer it back towards fiction whether it be a history of the X-Men or as I got older a comparison between Sauron from Lord of the Rings and Ronald Reagan. In high school though I finally got a little balance to my writing and discovered the many mysteries in non-fiction and history. By the time college rolled around I was all set to go into journalism with a goal of becoming a small town sports columnist. Of course once I realized I HATED interviewing people that dream quickly got set aside. Luckily I quickly found another outlet for writing and that came through filmmaking. For 10 years I wrote or co wrote a number of scripts and treatments that once again satisfied my need to put a pen to my thoughts. In the end though that creative well dried up on me or at least shut it’s door for a while and once again I had no outlet. Then a friend started to blog once in a while on MySpace and I started to look into the whole phenomenon and that led me to here. So that’s a really long and rambling way to say that I’ve learned by now that I’ve got to write in one form or another as it’s just who I am.

The second reason I blog is that I’m a bit full of myself. Now I’m not full of myself in the “look at me, pay attention to me, I’m doing something” kind of way. No, I’m full of myself in the “bow before Zod”, kind of way especially when it comes to pop culture. For a guy who can sometimes be unsure of himself around the ladies or even in large social gatherings, I’m damn sure of myself when it comes to issuing opinions on Tom Hanks or the new Radiohead CD. Pretty much I figure I know best when it comes to things of such matters. Now obviously I know that taste is subjective and people are entitled to differning opionions it’s just that I consider them wrong. I mean you’re reading these words from a guy who once made a date cry after he cited all the numerous flaws in Speilberg’s AI after a joint viewing. I’m also the guy who decided he wanted to end things with a girl he met online because her favorite TV shows were procedurals. Point is, the blog gives me a chance to share my infinite wisdom whether it be on something so bad it’s good like Laguna Beach or a modern day classic like Children of Men. Hopefully I turn a few people on to a good song, or maybe help people discover a dangerously addictive TV show, or maybe I just shake someone’s faith in their belief that Crash deserved an Oscar. Does that make me petty? Yes but keep in mind I even rip on my own tastes thus the title of the blog.

So I guess that’s why I blog, because I have an internal need to write and a need to tell everyone how right I am about matters of pop culture even when it’s damning to myself. Now if I can just figure out a catchy title to that blog on Children of Men…