What is my blog?  How long have I been blogging?  Well I started in 1997.  But then it was just called a web site.  Of course I didn’t have a comment section and I had to FTP all new updates.  At the time I started by critiquing a military school I was attending.  The school had so many classified areas that I really couldn’t say much but it was kind of a vent and led to a multi-page end of course critique which I turned in and assume was trashed. 

I moved on to general comments on news events and military subjects that were important to me at the time.  Updating via FTP was a bit of a pain.  It meant I really couldn’t update from anyplace but home.  This certainly was a limitation of the time.  I never did the diary thing.  That’s not me.  I whine enough about the military and political spectrum I sure don’t want to bore others with my personal life which is like any other.  It has ups and downs and if I were to write daily about it I would certainly regret most of what I’d say.  So I keep to the outside world mostly.

For a short time a friend of mine had an EZINE going and I was a frequent writer.  But he was unable to keep the site going.  It’s a shame because the site actually made me feel like I must contribute and that helped to motivate me.  I still would like to work on a multi person site but it would have to be with the right group. 

Now I have this blog.  It’s not that old.  But I do get more visitors than ever.  That’s still a relatively small number and I like most of the individuals that leave comments.  The problem I have is that I don’t have it in me to actually promote this site.  I mean what can I say that others don’t already say and say it much better?  I’ve seen some sites that promote the hell out of themselves and I’m not impressed.  Many of these sites do well and some of these bloggers have attained some notoriety.  But is it because they are insightful? Is it because they write extremely well or is it just hype and who you know?  Well I think for some it’s the latter.  Promotion is everything. 

I’ve also noticed the great sites that just peter out.  They come on strong, usually at a time when some news item is hot and they on the bandwagon.  They hit the big story hard and give or create some great ideas.  But somehow they don’t last.  That’s what makes blogging so difficult.  How many “War bloggers” started a couple of years ago only to fade away?  How many political blogs were hot while the elections were taking place but haven’t posted anything in months?  We all have times when we just don’t have anything to say but we must post something.  I hate going more than a week without a post.  I feel like I’m cheating someone.  

In the end for me and many others we do this for the challenge and the fun.  When the fun stops so will I.  Now if I ever figure a way to make money doing this without advertisements I may take it more serious and promote…..