On the nature of blogging

I had planned on using the second post to tell you some facts about me. You know, the kind of anecdotes that, while not giving any real information, would convey some sketches of my personality. That is postponed for the moment. Instead, you get my thoughts on blogging.

This change of plans was brought by an unexpected visit to the blog (if you’re wondering whether I mean you in particular, I don’t). Someone who I hadn’t considered as a potential reader commented to me about my new blog. I was dumbfounded. This was not my intended audience.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all. Anyone with a computer and some kind of connection can come here and read everything I have written. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t cherry pick who reads what. This is stupidly obvious, but it didn’t sink in until this happened, leaving me feeling a bit exposed and wondering about what that meant to what I planned to write here.

There were two situations that concerned me. The first was that some complete stranger would read me. This must have been a side-effect of a healthy ego: the overwhelming majority of people out there couldn’t care less about my blog and me and, in the odd chance that they do, I don’t care about what they think of it.

The other problem would be that people who I know, but who I wasn’t aware knew about this place, came here. After thinking it over, I realized this was a moot point. This is the internet, after all. I’m not having a private conversation; I’m standing on a room filled with people shouting at the top of my lungs. I wouldn’t be sharing anything that I would want to keep secret from the world to begin with.

So now, with this deep thinking about the nature of blogging and my feelings about it out of the way, let’s see what comes next.

Something akin to a preface

I've been thinking: I've got lots of work to do, I barely have time to keep my social life going and I don't think this will get better in the near future. Why not go all-in and add another way to spend time in the form of a blog? Thus this website was born. If I tried to rationalize my decision, I might say that the idea has been on my mind for quite a while and that some thoughts bouncing on my head could have ended up as blog posts if only I had a place to put them. As an added bonus, chances are that I'll be moving out of the country in a few months, so if I create the blog now I avoid the cliché of the emigrant who creates a blog to keep in touch.

Now, if you are reading this, odds are that you know me personally and you're wondering why I'm writing in English. There are two answers for that. The first is that not everyone that I know and would like to visit this place speaks Portuguese. The second is that most of the time I don't like what I write in my mother language. It gets too long-winded, too pretentious. Maybe it's not much better in English, but at least I don't notice it. I'm not ruling out completely writing a few posts in Portuguese, but they will be the minority.

A note on content: I have no idea what it will be. Probably things about me. Musings, mainly. Thoughts that can't be expressed in the hundred and forty characters or less that Twitter gives me. Rants. Me. The occasional Radiohead-induced post dripping with overblown melancholy. Happy news that I want to share. Myself. Careful analysis of world events. The ups and downs of my work. I. A blog is a place where egotism reigns supreme, after all, and this theme will give me an idea for a name.

As for when I will post... Monthly, hourly, daily or twice a year. You know, the usual for a blog: whatever strikes its owner's fancy, whenever it strikes.

Until the next time, whenever that is.