Why am I blogging (again)?

Well, Mark Jen's story made the top section of CNN.com's front page headlines. Here it is first hand, and here's some commentary by Robert Scoble.

Mark's story hit a bit close to home for me, and has definitely gotten me thinking quite a bit over the last few days as to where I'd like to go with this blog.

I've seen blogs that have gotten friends into trouble within their social networks after posting rather personal and/or defamatory thoughts.

Now, the whole world has seen Mark Jen, a former Google employee, fired for posting some negative commentary on his employer.

So, it's time to revisit my mission. Back in November, in one of my first posts, I talked about my reasons for blogging. Those reasons pretty much remain intact. I like the fact that blogging allows me to:

- Reach many people who care rather than a few people who might care via email or some other mechanism.

- Express my thoughts publicly in a semi-permanent way (certainly a double-edged sword).

- Receive feedback in the form of (potentially anonymous) comments and continuous coversation.

Additionally, since I've started blogging, I've received emails from friends I hadn't heard from in ages and thought provoking comments from friends I see every day. It's been very cool. It's also inspired me to begin including a little more information about my life on my blog, in an effort to keep readers who know me and care to know me informed. It's still a public forum, so there will be certain lines I won't be crossing, but I certainly want to begin writing more about some interesting things I've been learning and projects I've been working on. Expect more of this type of thing soon.

Another unexpected thing I've found is that writing has been rather therapeutic. Don't get me wrong, I vow that my blog will never become a cheap substitute for therapy (and yes, I've seen this happen!), but sitting here at 9:30pm, candles burning, Lapsang Souchong in hand, writing away in my blog.. is actually a relaxing break from the fast-paced world of school and work. If you've never tried keeping a journal, a blog, or any other kind of expressive form of media for yourself, I suggest you do so. You just might enjoy it as much as I.

As a quick aside, I do plan on choosing a new design for the blog's layout (or designing my own, if I can't find one I like). This center-column thing I've currently got going on is a horrible waste of precious screen space. "As soon as I can get around to it..."

As for blogging and work, I suppose that's a subject for another time -- in part because I'm still mulling it over in my head. On some level, there's a fear of being restricted to only sharing the positive, and having to bite my tongue on the negative. But like I said.. lots of time to figure that one out..

Finally, I'll end on a rather random note. This blog averages 300-500 readers on a normal day. That's readers, not reloads, and it doesn't include the RSS feed. Who are you people? :-) Drop me a line and say hello. Or better yet, post a comment!

Now.. off to watch tonight's episode of 24. Cheers!