The Blog

I have had numerous complaints from family and friends that I live a fairly sequestered and secretive life. Now, they may be right - I have no Facebook page (being over the age of 16 ), I would not have a clue how to tweet (maybe the single most narcissistic invention to feed the millennial ego), and I would not have a cell phone if it was not provided to me by my company (although I never answer it anyway). So, yes, I concede, they may have a point. I just do not feel my life or opinions are that significant. So...... why the blog?

Well, on Tuesday, it was official announced that my wife and I were moving to New Delhi, India. This is not the first assignment for me overseas, but it is true that the last time I made another country my permanent address, email was just emerging as a viable technology. This meant that as I lived in relative seclusion (happily), I had all the excuses (too expensive, etc) for not communicating. This time, though, I feel it may be different.

I have spent some time weighing the feedback and comments and balancing them against the options on the table.

Facebook: There is no way! Plain and simple. This is the 1970s / 1980s equivalent of leaving school and running home to call the person you just left. I never understood it when my sisters did it and I do not understand it now. No one needs to share that level of information in any way on any medium. As well, to be honest, there are simply people from my past I do not need tracking me down (various reasons of which I will not be going into).

Twitter: Seriously, get over yourself. Nobody cares that you just left Target and are now at Starbucks. No one is coming to meet you, because if people actually liked you, they would have made plans with you in advance. Done!

Mobile Phone; I get the mobile phone. It is a convenient tool that allows you to call when needed - but this is where we diverge. What is "when needed?" Would it be moving down the freeway at 80 mph in order to learn about someone's new haircut? How about on a Minneapolis Bus, loudly and explicitly explaining how you got "some" last night? How about in the grocery store while you should be unloading your cart and the line is now backing up as you unsuccessful try to lift the 30 gallon jug of tide with one hand on to the conveyor. You get the point! "When needed" for me is more like if a tree fell on you and you needed a medevac.

So I use none of these tools. This is not to say I do not embrace technology, I just believe in quite time and personal space. So, I thought to myself, what is a tool which I can use that would not allow the noise back at me. A Blog. It was so simple. I do not even need to know if anyone reads it - how marvelous.

So there it is. Why I, the man who rejects communication technology, is now on the web!