A good friend of mine who happens to be a bit paranoid about all things Internet asked me the other day;

“why do you blog when the world can take what you write and use it against you later?”

A truly fair question, and one I’ve had to ask myself, so I thought I’d take a moment to explain it as rationally as I can, given that it’s now 3am and I can’t sleep for the raccoon in my attic.

In the world of today where you constantly read articles about people losing their jobs (or potential employment) over Facebook and other social media sites, it’s very easy to forget that the world is watching, and that the Internet never forgets.

That being said, I was born in 1966, into an era where teachers actually taught students how to read, write, and think beyond the opinions given to them by CNN.  Everyone who has ever gone into school has found themselves to have a talent, whether it’s scientific (math geeks) or language (English majors), artistic (band, Art majors) or even mechanical (shop guys).

I myself am an English snob.  Not the uppity brit kind, but one of those people who choose to use the American language of English in its most proper form.

Maybe I sound like a redneck, but I write like a smart SOB.

When I type, I strive — even if I don’t always succeed — to use my words carefully.  I try not to use moronic abbreviations when I text (such as LOL, LMFAO, BRB) and I even spell out the word “etcetera”.

I look around at the world today, particularly the younger generations and I weep for the death of society.  Even though I am by very definition a technically savvy human being (I’m a SharePoint developer, not that that is a smart thing), I still commiserate with the TV character of Hank Moody (Californication) who is a self-proclaimed “analog guy in a digital world“.

Even though I feel the need to write down my thoughts (and recipes, and what I had for lunch apparently), I still very much believe in the use of words to describe our surroundings and the things we do, see, and say every day.  If I want to LOL, I’ll laugh out loud.  If I want to LMFAO, I’ll laugh my f**king ass off, but I’ll do it with style and hopefully a bit of grace so that there’s no doubt that your imagination still exists.

Much like Hank Moody, I feel that most people today don’t interact.  They don’t write any more, and they don’t know how to communicate with other people in a civilized fashion.  Instead, we’ve got political correctness and the thought police out there putting you on CNN for the sake of news if you even dare to speak certain words out loud.

This country has gone awry with it’s profound sense of self-entitlement and self-importance.  America as a whole needs both a reality check, and a reboot, starting with the education system.

I dare say that in 50 some-odd years (perhaps less), English as we know it will be as dead as Latin, and that’s a damned shame.

Quit babbling and get to it!

I guess the simple answer is that I just enjoy putting down my thoughts into real words, in a real language.  I enjoy expressing myself and trying to justify my parents expense for my public school education.  In shorter answer, like most human beings, I just like hearing myself talk.