In The Big Inning...

Ok, so now I've created a blog.

And, to be honest, I'm not quite sure why I did so, I just know that I like writing and feel that I should have some sort of outlet for my thoughts, other than boring my friends and family with assorted tirades. Man, it's hot in this room. Writing's hard work.

Now, you can choose just to ignore what I've written, and smile and nod pleasantly when I refer to "My Blog", and I'll just assume you know what I'm talking about, while you can just be thinking about the tasty meatloaf you had for dinner last night. And everyone's happy!

But, now that you're here, and reading, permit me a few indulgences (or just stop now and ponder the meatloaf).

Why create a blog?

I think I've enjoyed writing, and expository writing at that, for a while now - probably starting in high school. But, once I went down the engineering track, despite a few opportunities in college, I really haven't had the chance to just put thoughts down on paper that weren't related to computers. In fact, I feel like the only real time I've gotten to do writing that I enjoy has been over email - and when I do write long emails about topics that interest me, I often fear that I'm boring the recipient, who likely isn't interested in what I'm writing about, or if he or she is interested, most likely doesn't have the time to devote to my long-winded pontifications. So, initially, this blog seems like a good idea to remedy that.

Kind requests

At first, I can use this blog just to write about things I'd like to enjoy. However, much like the tree falling in the forest question, is there any point if I don't tell people about it? And if I do tell people about it, will they read it? It does seem a little less convenient for people to have to go to a webpage. One way to assure that people do go to this page is by keeping it interesting or at least constantly updating. But therein lies a problem - I'd like to be able to write about whatever I feel like at the moment, or at least not write if I don't feel like it. Furthermore, in the interest of "blog purity", I'd also like to be able to write "freestyle", and not worry if I'm boring my audience. I haven't yet figured a way around these opposing interests - maintaining readership and purity of intent at the same time. While I work on that, if I've pointed you to this page, at the risk of sounding self-interested, it'd be cool if you could a) check this page from time to time, b) let me know if you find it interesting or uninteresting, c) add comments as you see fit, and d) engage me in a discussion about some of these topics if you feel motivated to do so. That's asking a lot, but if you're looking at this, you're likely someone I care about, and therefore I am likely writing these posts to share thoughts and solicit ideas about some topics. And if you've just wandered upon this page, I can't really imagine that you'd care a lot about the thoughts of some guy you don't know and will likely never meet, but nevertheless, I'd like to hear from you. Thanks.

Postmodernism

As if to prove my point about being long-winded, I do have a few more things to say. One is with regard to "meta-thoughts". I think within a few months of discovering my interest in writing, I discovered my interest in writing about storytelling. Many of the humanities classes I took in college dealt with the issue of "postmodernism" and the "meta-narrative". I guess it's sunk in, because I think it's a compelling topic, and one I'll likely devote more time to in later posts. However, I would like to point another issue I think it's important with respect to the blog, and that is about the tone - it's hard to me to avoid commenting on my commenting - that is, to stay on topic without delving into the "meta-issues" surrounding blogging. It's especially difficult without knowing who will read this and what will happen to it. While I find these issues compelling (What am I saying? Why am I saying it? What does what I'm saying say about me? Is what I'm saying trite? Overused? Does it really say something other than the written text?), I think they may often cause me to stray from any intended messages I may have. Maybe I'll include two sections in future posts - one on the particular topic, and then one on the post I just wrote. Who knows?

The Title

I intentionally put the section about postmodernism before this one, because I'm going to probably illustrate one of the points I just made, but it seems important to at least address the title of the blog somewhere, so why not in the first post? I spent about 10 seconds thinking of the name of the blog, which brings up a few questions. First of all, why did I choose this name? Well, I like puns, and I like baseball, so "In The Big Inning..." fit decently well. It's actually stolen from a Thomas Boswell book (he's a noted sports writer for the Washington Post, who has written quite a few books on baseball), but I also liked the idea that it alludes to other issues. Boswell used this pun to illustrate that God is a baseball fan, since the Bible starts this way. Heh heh. Cute, eh? And since I was starting something, "in the beginning" seemed fitting.

Upon further reflection (just while writing this), I don't know if the name has staying power - at some point, it's not going to be the "big inning" any more, and so the name won't feel as appropriate. Furthermore, because it's a pun based on a bible quote, I wonder if people might erroneously assume that this blog has something to do with organized religion. While I certainly expect to have some posts about religion, I really don't want readers to get that impression, and likely be turned off by it. Maybe I'll change the name in the future, but for now I'm stuck with it.

I feel that for a first post, this is getting long enough. Hopefully, I'll be writing more soon.