I have had misgivings about doing this in the past, but after a conversation at Thanksgiving with family I have finally done it. The reasons why I am averse to publishing a blog are as follows: 1) I don't write for everybody, I write for a selected audience. 2) If I send my stuff via e-mail, the recipients have a better chance of reading it - If I post it on a blog, they may never read it. 3) Blogging doesn't make money, I have bills to pay. 4) Blogging requires a commitment. I can't just stop posting. If I did that, the blog would be pointless. 5) If I start blogging, I'll have to start watching movies for the sake of the blog, and not for the pure enjoyment of film which is the reason why the famous Layer Cake e-mail was sent around in the first place. 6) I don't respond to criticism very well. Inevitably, somebody is going to post a comment that will be both negative and non-constructive and I might just pack the whole experiment in. 7) My writing style is too personalized. It is directed at a very small group of people who know me and usually understand my humour. With a blog, anybody can read my stuff and may not know that some references are jokes, or may take it personally and might actually take me up on point #6). 8) It has been offered that blogging is an exercise in narcissism. I agree with that point, which is why I was loathe to start a blog in the first place. I don't consider myself a narcissist, but I've never studied psychology either. 9) Isn't it too late to blog? Haven't I missed the boat? Everybody's vlogging now, so isn't that a better way to go? I would vlog, but I don't want a camera. Heck, I don't even have a cell phone or cable TV, and I hardly ever use my DVD player. 10) I had hoped that my e-mails would not be passed around to people I don't know, and my material reproduced without consent by some people. Well, its already happened, so why not just put it all on a blog so everybody can read it and make it fair game?
Despite all my concerns, I've decided to put up what I have, and will add new stuff when I can. I'm going to take it on the chin and delete most, if not all non-constructive negative comments. My writing style will remain directed to a small group, but will also try to have something for everyone, and I'll stop writing e-mails that take 20 minutes to read.