Once upon a time

Okay, gang. Here's how this is going to work.

I commit to writing one blog entry per day, each day, for the next 365 days.

"Sounds like a new year's resolution," says the snarky old codger in the corner. "Bah, nonsense. Everyone knows that you can't start a new year's resolution when it isn't the new year."

"Sound reasoning, my good man," I reply. "But you see, unlike folks that start a resolution on January 1, I'm less likely to fail."

"...We'll see about that."

Indeed. We will see about that, won't we?

Here's the thing. It's no secret that I've been playing Musical Blogs for the past few years (for some head-scratching reason, I never could achieve the same sense of community as what I had with LiveJournal back in college). I'd either wax too poetic, or I wouldn't wax poetic enough. Wax on, wax off - it's all relative. Anyway, this whole "project" serves a few purposes:

Objective #1: To find my voice as a writer. I tried NaNoWriMo this month. I wrote zero words and consequently failed, and now I can't buy those awesome "World Class Novelist" merch items that look like they came from the PanAm set. The worst part of it is, guys, that I actually love to write. I'm just horrid at committing to a plot (and making said plot cohesive and not all over the flipping place). Maybe blogging every day will be a bit of a journey to self-discovery. Wouldn't that be nice?

Objective #2: To have a sense of public accountability. I tried this very task once, but with a written journal, not a blog. If I skipped a day or two, the only person that noticed or cared or guilt-tripped me was... me. A grand idea in theory, but if I've got friends, family, and perhaps Creepy Mister Curmudgeon From Next Door reading along, I might be more inclined to follow through. [BEGIN NOT-SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: Read my blog. Comment sometimes. I need fans. END NOT-SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE.]

Objective #3: To really be a for-reals member of the blogosphere. So I listen to a lot of NPR these days (sorry; not sorry). They're all the freaking time bringing in these "experts" on social, political, and cultural news stories with the sole credentials that this Mr. Joe Blogtastic is a blogger. You can add it instead of a PhD, really, and you'd be all set. Maybe if I become a legit blogger, I, too, might be a panel member on All Things Considered. But that's a selfish ambition, and I'm almost wanting to scratch that one out, except I like having three objectives. It's better than two.

Whatever the objectives, I will make a blog entry every day. Some days, I might just post a picture or a link and add whatever valuable insight I can. Other days, you'll enjoy the pleasure of reading a War and Peace-length discourse on the importance of cleaning out the dryer vent properly.

But you'll like it. I guarantee. Now gimme some motivation, Gus. Let's kick this off right!