point taken ...?

"Frankly, I simply don’t get the whole idea of blogs. They strike me as a bit narcissistic and something to do for people who have time on their hands such as the young and the elderly. Sorta’ like playing Solitaire… yes it fills the time, but it’s not particularly meaningful, just a lot of opinions and words. Why not create your own website where you publish your poetry and short story writing? I really enjoyed the website that you and Lauren created – it showed a comedic as well as deep side of who you are.

My real concern, as your ______ who cares about you and your name/reputation, is that a fantastic job prospect will arise in the future and it will be nixed when they Goggle [sic] your name and come up with … what?"

i think this close-relative-of-mine-i'm-not-identifying-here has a point. she/he also sent me a few other emails last night that concerned a) a misspelling on my academic department's faculty page for me, and b) the very real concern that since there are currently two other people with MY EXACT SAME first and last name, i should really start using my middle initial. (so when i'm "googled" people don't confuse me with this woman who writes camera handbooks with her husband, verne).

so. now i'm sitting here, thinking about this. again.

what am i doing with this blog? with my life? [why DON'T I USE MY MIDDLE INITIAL? ]

why don't i do creative writing anymore? (aside from the fact that most of my short stories from my undergraduate workshops dealt with freakish disasters of the mutilating sort ... my favorite of these was a "short-short" of pure dialogue that concerned a chicken processing plant accident where one of the employees had his arms ripped off at the shoulders. another involved an aspiring male model who broke off his two front teeth diving into a nearly-empty swimming pool while drunk. yet another concerned a young woman whose parents BOTH DIED AT THE EXACT SAME MINUTE, albeit across town from each other).

yes, i didn't really "get" irony. i still don't, apparently.

but i'm beginning to suspect it's genetic.