even the most banal (heh) post takes 30 minutes, most take an hour or more.

so, as i was saying.

the thing about making a commitment to writing every day is that you have to write every day. good or bad. coal or diamond. blather or insight. every day. you say you will do it, so you do it - the very definition of commitment.

daily writing becomes not so much about what is written as it is about the act of writing. as with anything done daily, some days are better than others. some days it's process, rote, a list of books read, an article repurposed from wikipedia. some days it's eager anticipation, being forced to wait all through the working day, bursting with thoughts or news, something funny, sad, interesting, that i just can't wait to tell you.

tell you. YOU. you? if i were writing for me, i would open a document on the desktop and save it back. this is a public document in a public place. the practice of daily writing is for me. the output is for you. there's a line there somewhere, where the practice is for you and the output is for me. but, it's not the output that i want to keep and it's not the practice that i want to share. so, stay on your side of the line!

i know me. i know my chemistry and my history and i know that if i were to give myself a pass and say that i'm no longer blogging daily, just blogging when i feel like it or when i have something to say... well, i know what would happen. a day would become a week a month a season a year - time turning into never. giving myself a pass would spell the end. i don't want it to end. i am proud of what i have built here. or, not built so much as grown. i want to keep it alive. i want to do the daily tasks that are necessary to nurture it - i want to feed it, water it, take it for a walk, give it treats, teach it to fetch and heel and beg and shake hands. ah, now there's a juicy pile of metaphors.

this isn't a popular blog. it has no focus, no platform, no objective, no attraction. the only purpose is to provide a place for me to write something every day, and a place for you to read something every day. okay, except those two weeks i was at brigadoon, which you've got to admit are excusable, and yesterday when i took a pass. it was yesterday's pass that really made me think. yesterday's pass, wondering if anyone would even notice, slipping dangerously into needing you to be there, and poof, someone IS there reading and there commenting and there (apparently) liking a post on facebook.

huh.

i don't know why you are here, why you came, why you stay. most of you, i don't have an inkling of a spark of a thought of an idea of who you are, where you are, why you are.

but, i appreciate the company.