Blogapalooza, Or: Why I Shouldn't Have Waited So Long To Write These ****ing Things

Blogs are funny, in that they refuse to be defined by convention. Objectively, they're neither conversational nor academic. Neither thorough (as a research paper) nor superficial (as an AIM chat). Not entirely conscious of their form, but retaining a uniqueness that separates the blog format from all other methods of communicating oneself.

Now, in Writing 340, we were asked to complete these blogs as part of Assignment 4. So naturally, our blogs err on the side of thorough, academic analysis. Other blogs, to be sure, include posts that are far less stiff than the posts that one will find on this page. The American Presidents Blog, for example, includes variations in subject matter such as "Name that Picture!" posts and links to fun websites that allow you to virtually create your own presidential campaign. I am not sure if posts like these are legitimate for this assignment; to be sure, I should have asked Professor Feagin. Nevertheless, I think it's important to note that the blog form is NOT just the academic analysis that I feel compelled to include in all of my posts in this blog. One might argue that blogs are the most enjoyable for an author to maintain when he/she can become silly and/or conversational with his/her audience. And, in the case of the American Presidents blog, that good humor often elicits a high frequency of comments, which in turn draws more readers into the serious subject matter of the blog.

The wildly inappropriate title of this post, then, might serve me in a similar fashion. I'm not a robot that spits out well-structured posts at a moment's notice. Most of my posts on this page took more time to create than I would care to admit. Indeed, when I first began this project, I figured that blog posts would be little more than forum posts with some links as window dressing for my central points. As I have discovered, however, the best blog posts attempt to imitate the well-structured papers and refined prose of academia. That process takes time. More on that in my review of the blog experience for Assignment 4.