Whereby some Adventures in Good Blogging get underway . . . I hope

Not a mission statement. Nor a detailed manifesto. And surely not anything planned out. I hope this blog is at least a thoughtful stab from time to time on subjects that interest me that have nothing to do with my work:

The arts (especially literature, jazz and classical music, film noir and Impressionistic and Modernist painting), cooking and travel, many sports (notably soccer) and what I call "Web life," which encompasses above all abiding passions for Internet radio and broadcasting. Had I not become a print hack, life behind a microphone might have been the route I would most likely have taken.

But after 20 years as a newspaper reporter and the next five as a Web news producer and editor -- the geek crowd likes to call my type "digital immigrants" -- I still feel the need for a creative writing outlet that's personal and quirky and eclectic and human. Hey, isn't that what blogs are all about?

This enterprise could end up just about anywhere -- I may get all worked up at times over issues like Net Neutrality and efforts by the major telecoms to limit access to the Web, or at least coax extortionist sums for the privilege of surfing. There's a special place in Purgatory just waiting for the likes of unnamed monopolists to whom I already pay too much money for what they call basic service. Every so often I may drop them a rung or two here.

From mid-August to mid-May, I get hopping mad and frustrated at the exploits of the greatest football club in the world, Liverpool FC, which is going on a 20-year league title drought in England. Rafa Benitez' managerial decisions and a seemingly Stone Age central defense probably will not be effectively resolved during this summer respite, unfortunately.

I've gone absolutely berserk (happily so, in this case) over the availability of artistic, literary and cultural websites, blogs, photos, audio and video clips and other content that surely make the purists scoff. Oh, and those "Cassandras" who bemoan the Web and are convinced it's making us all dumber, they really make me crabby because of their either/or absolutist diatribes. 

What you won't see here: much in the way of politics. Even if I weren't a working journalist, why follow down those weather-beaten paths? A journalistic comrade is convinced that most political blogs aren't well-written because there's so much partisan hackery involved, although I've linked on my main page a few of the better ones that show what can be maximized with Web technology and online news values. I'm pretty adamant about issues like the First Amendment, the Constitution, etc., so there may be some postings here when freedom of expression is imperiled, which is far a more frequent occasion than it ought to be. 

I'm not religious, but I don't see how matters of faith, theology and belief can be separated from a blog that delves into cultural matters. But there is a distinction between, say, examining Graham Greene's Catholicism and harping on the ideological battles that have engulfed American politics and religion for most of my lifetime. 

While I have my own political ideals, I heatedly shun ideology of almost every kind, especially those creeds that try to infect the pursuit of art, truth and joy. Art for art's sake may sound like a cliché, but it's the best defense against taking the passion out of life's greatest passions.

Aw, hell, that sure does sound like a mission statement, manifesto and plan for blogging action after all, doesn't it? All I want to do with this blog is have fun with it. As a middle-aged Johnny Sue-come-lately to the Web, this blogger is excited about some Adventures in Good Blogging. May I surprise myself every day with what I write.

And if you want to find out more about me, here goes. Want to see what sorts of things I file away on the Web? Check out this collection. Check out my favorite sites on the blog roll to the right, and get touch with me via email at: aucontraire81@gmail.com.