This blog is an experiment for me. Many of the attributes and qualities that I think are vital to being a successful blogger - consistency, enthusiasm, an extroverted persona - are not qualities that I have in spades. I am also incredibly self-conscious about what I put in any sort of public domain. However, I believe that attempting new experiences is remarkably broadening, that failures lead to success, and that rejection without venture is ignorance. And for once, I think I have something worthwhile to say. So let's see if I can pull it off...
First some background and ground rules.
The impetus for writing this blog is pretty straight forward - I want to chronicle my rapidly approaching 27 month volunteer experience in the Peace Corps. I will be serving somewhere in Asia with my best friend, partner of partners, and all around better half - my wife, Kate. I am hoping that this blog will be many things to many people: a report home to my friends and family; a helpful reference for others who wish to serve in the PC or travel in the region I will be in; comic relief for those who have no affiliation with me and find the writing that bad. Either way, I hope you are able to find something worthwhile here and that, hope of hopes, my blog does not become "just another blog."
I sometimes wonder how people continue to create so many new blogs when the Internet is already overflowing with a cacophony of crap and redundancy. The answer, I suppose, is pretty simple as people will always need a mode of expression when they think they have something to say. Ideas only become crap when they are put forth for the sake of putting forth ideas (at least that's my idea) - I hope I didn't just offend half my new blogging community in my first post. I am not saying that blogging about the minutiae of life is not sometimes worthwhile, so much of life is minutiae. Its really just personal preference. When tends to turn me off to blogs is when I can tell the author is writing for self-serving reasons or to vent about something trivial in their day. So my first promise to you is to attempt to write only about things that I think someone out there might find interesting, funny, or useful - I will leave the rest to my personal journal. I won't blog every day unless I have something to say everyday (I won't). But as I said, this is an experiment in personal growth, so I will also try to speak up more than I usually do and put my ideas out there more than I typically would. Contradicting enough? Excellent.
My wife will also be blogging about our experiences in the PC. She is actually an accomplished blogger who I am sure will be blogging more frequently, have many more insights, and generally be cooler than me on all fronts - so I am sure that she will be flagging traffic to me rather than the converse. What might be kind of cool though, is that you will get to see similar experiences in the PC from two different perspectives. I will try to link to her posts when I think the difference in viewpoint is particularly striking.
Another pact I make with you is that I will try to keep my posts short and sweet if you agree to tell me when I don't (this one doesn't count, its the first time I've met you, so I'm rambling). I hate time-wasting tasks unless the point of the task is to waste time. So I will in the future to keep my posts to an efficient length to provide you with maximum context at minimal effort and take this opportunity to mull over whether or not you will come back to read my future posts - I promise at least some of them will be worth your while.
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