To Blog or Not To Blog

The Fat Guy brings up a question that confronts every blogger sooner or later.

That is, Why in the HELL am I doing this? Why do I WANT to do this? I don't HAVE to do this. Maybe I WON'T do this.

He writes:

I can’t find anything to write about that hasn’t been covered by 500,000 people already, and I’m not the least bit motivated to go look for something. Worse than that, though, is that I find the overwhelming majority of blogs that I read uninteresting. Everybody talks about the same damn dumb thing...

Bloggerville is changing. The newest wrinkle has the mainstream media fully embracing the medium. Here on The Petrochemical Coast, the Houston Chronicle regularly links to local blogs under the heading of What they're saying around town."

I made the list once last week. Today, they linked to Slampo's Place.

This is somewhat surprising, and amusing, inasmuch as Slampo and I have a history at that newspaper (sorry if you didn't want to be "outed," Slampo).

Be that as it may, there's a certain level of validation that comes with a link in the high 'n mighty Chron, whether you once worked there or you didn't.

For those who never worked in journalism, the temptation may be to think, "Golly, professional journalists really like my writing!"

And there would seem to be some truth in that.

You have to ask, though, will they link to your post if you rip 'em a good one?

The link to Slampo today, for instance, may have been included since he made a flattering allusion to one of their reporters (or was that Slampo's patented sarcasm?) Slampo at times artfully eviscerates the Chron and so far I haven't noticed any links to those posts.

By the same token, Kevin Whited and Anne Linehan at BlogHouston take a fine tooth comb to the Houston daily on a regular basis and, I may be wrong, but I haven't noticed chron.com linking to any of their more pointed pieces while throwing a link to some of their less strident posts.

So is this the local mainstream media's attempt to co-opt Bloggerville? Is there a subtle, unspoken message being sent that says, "We will deign to link to you Pajama Nazis so long as you don't criticize our product too brutally?"

I don't know the answer to that.

Personally, I wouldn't link to another blogger who said I was full of crap. It's only human nature for the Chron to follow the same rule of thumb.

For that reason, I am willing to give the newspaper the benefit of the doubt and credit Chron Tech Guru Dwight Silverman for the newspaper's linkage to local blogs.

But back to The Fat Guy's vexing problem. What to do when you can't find anything interesting, or original, to blog about?

I was thinking maybe he or me or you could every once in a while blog about what you dreamed about the previous night.

I know, I know. Hearing another person's dreams, unless you're close to that person, is about as interesting as listening to someone talk about how their Fantasy Baseball lineup is doing.

But since blogging, at least for me, is a pursuit aimed chiefly at self amusement, dream blogging might work when the well runs dry, and it could lead to some interesting comments from those who fancy themselves interpreters of dreams.

With that in mind, here are my last two most vivid dreams.

Last night, I had a dream in which a group of polar bears was gathering in a doorway of some kinda shack. But the polar bears were kind of dirty, with matted fur. And upon closer inspection, they turned out to be people dressed up like polar bears. It woke me up and I was told I was mumbling and thrashing around in my sleep.

My other dream, now about 2-3 weeks old, involved me flying. I wasn't flying outdoors, but inside these cavernous hallways and inside these large buildings, like big gymnasiums or arenas. It was thrilling, and in the dream I called up this guy I used to work with and told him, "Man, I have discovered this new sport. It's called flying. You're not gonna believe how fun it is. I can't believe nobody's ever invented it before!"

OK, analyze away. Or wait to see if the Chron links to this. Or just go about your own personal business.