I have fallen hard. Yes, just days ago I considered myself to be above this. Actually, for the past few weeks I have prided myself on the fact that I have successfully kept aloof from the blogging bug that seems to have caught many in its gruesome—or at least addicting—grasp. Blogging? How can you find the time for it? What a waste! Think of the hours needed to read the things, not to mention the time required in attempting to sound witty in your own comments. I have so many other, more important things to do. Don’t you know the world is hanging in the balance, and it’s up to me to save it? Teenagers are miring in the mists of ignorance, and it’s my responsibility to enlighten their minds through teaching them history. With so much at stake, how can I divert my attention from them to stop and blog?
And blogging is too impersonal! It reduces the amount of time people have for more quality, one on one communication, the kind found in emails. People start blogging, and you can forget about getting a personal message from them! “Just read my blog” becomes the unspoken but underlying attitude of those who have fallen prey to the trend. Besides, I’m a trend setter, not a lemming! (Refer to Craig’s recent lemming story post for more info on lemmings.) Why should I go along with what others are doing just because it’s the thing to do?
Yet alas, I have given in. And like someone who takes that first chocolate out of the box—or better yet, starts watching that first episode of 24—who knows where it may lead? And in case any of you are suspecting I’m guilty of hypocrisy, here is my rationale for relenting to the rage:
1. I have more time now that the teaching year is complete. The students have uttered their last groans in response to the work I assigned them. It’s all over but for the crying they will do when they open their report cards. Now that summer vacation is officially here, I can rationalize spending a little more time on what seemed like a waste. And given the fact that my down time is spent in a combination of watching DVDs, sleeping, reading, and playing video games, adding the category of “sharing my fount of wisdom with others” doesn’t sound like a bad addition.
2. Preserving memories isn’t a bad thing. Sad to say, I have come to the conclusion that my memory is poor. Yes, that’s right. I’ve spent five years of college studying history, a discipline that requires significant retention of information. Maybe it’s because I’ve been forced to focus on details about dead people, so my brain is left incapable of also recalling the recent past. Maybe it’s the years of drug use that are finally reaping results. Or maybe it’s the craziness that surrounds me at my job (immersed in an environment with 2200 teenagers. Need I say more?) Whatever it is, I find I have a hard time remembering details about my life, including as recently as the day before. “Mr. ____d, what did I miss yesterday?” is a question I often get when a student has been absent. “Let’s see, what did we do?” is my common reply, as my brain races to remember what in the world we did just twenty-three hours before. Often I can’t recall. “Get notes from a classmate” is the safe response. Thank goodness I keep my lesson plans! Blogging will be another way to record incidents in my life that I too easily forget.
3. I plan on being rich and famous some day. This is closely related to point 2. Life is crazy at my high school. So crazy that I plan to write a book about it. How will I write that book? By detailing what I see/experience. These experiences will be detailed in my blog, which will become a book, which will make me rich. (And then I’ll buy a restored Coronet for some serious cruising of the Mediterranean.)
4. My quality of communication via email will not suffer. Somehow, I can’t see the half dozen advertisements that I get in a typical email day as being shortchanged by my attention to blogging. They’ll survive.
If anyone can add to my list of justifications for spending time like this, please do so.
