Blogging

Well, I've been blogging for 10 days now, since Saturday, November 19. I'm averaging 16 visits per day, most of which are me. Visits per day by comparison:

Daily Kos - 541,210
Instapundit - 124,332
Little Green Footballs - 83,207
Powerline - 65, 077

Okay, you have to start at the bottom. ;)

A blog is a gaping maw, endlessly demanding more content. Let it go a day without a post and you can see the staleness set in like bread hardening at the edges. (I think I just went a simile too far.)

I see this blog as an informal conversation, like letters to a friend. These posts are certainly not finished essays. They're more like first impressions.

I started this blog in the spirit of experimentation, and I'm still in the early stages of discovery. We'll all see how it works out. If the thing ever becomes a chore instead of enjoyment, then I'll probably stop. I mean, I'm not getting paid for this. I'm doing this because it is mentally stimulating and it's nice to have a platform on which to pop off about the issue of the day.

I'm still trying to figure out how personal to get on this blog. I've seen some bloggers write about dating and remarkably intimate things. I'll probably spare the reader that. But then again, if I had a funny or interesting story involving a love relationship, I might write about it -- especially if I could draw a broader conclusion or find a principle.

Why hide behind a pen name, Myrhaf? It's kind of fun to have a nom de plume, a persona. I'm a dramatist and I think of Myrhaf as a character. It adds a little spice to the blog. The name comes from a character in a historical novel about vikings that I have plotted but have not yet written. I started a draft about eight years ago, but was not happy with the quality of the prose. I should try again; I think I'm better now. As a result of calling this blog Myrhaf, I have noticed a lot of visits from Scandinavia on the Site Meter. I suspect they were disappointed to find a discussion of American politics.