Welcome to the Nateblogg! - 27 Apr 2004

“Every heart knows its own joy, but no one can know its pain.” This little nugget from the Book of Proverbs expresses the inherent isolation each of us experience in the confines of our minds. When we communicate with others, we can express some of what we are thinking, but due to constraints from social expectations, consideration of others, and time, we cannot express everything we wish we could. Our heads overflow desperately with opinions, experiences, feelings, amusements, and creativity, yet unless at least some of these many words find their way out of our heads, their ability to affect those around us diminishes, and we will consequently endure some level of insanity in our reticence.

My head is no different. It abounds with thoughts, some witty, some intelligent, many esoteric, some highly beautiful, some repulsive and ugly, most foolish to some degree. Though I am blessed with many friends to share my thoughts with, and though I enjoy talking entirely too much (ask any of my aforementioned friends), I find that I lack a consistent outlet to funnel my many thoughts into. That is, until now. This year, I discovered the concept of the weblog, a small bit of space on the World Wide Web where one can write irregular thoughts at irregular times during the week in a place accessible to billions of people (note the mostly unintentional alliteration in that last sentence). Gregg Easterbrook at The New Republic website had a great weblog that he (unfortunately) decided to end this week to focus on other pursuits. I hope to compensate for the absence of his excellent weblog work with the presence of my own (note tongue tucked so far into cheek that it protrudes out of ear).

Writing is one of my favorite pursuits, for many reasons. Where spoken words must arrive in a clumsy moment with little consideration, written words can be fashioned and refined like a maestro’s symphony, as precise as a scalpel in meaning, and as powerful as a muscle car in their effect. It allows me to think before I express myself, a luxury rarely afforded in personal interaction. Writing also leaves a record of thoughts, a trail of crackers that myself or others can follow to understand the answer to Bill Walton’s immortal question “What was he thinking?” Spoken words and unspoken personal communication are great, and have their place, but for serious thought, I definitely prefer the written word.

The subject matter of the Nateblogg will prove as diverse as the many interests I have taken on in my 26+ years of life. Movies, books, pop culture, music, motorcycles, baseball, soccer, basketball, history, politics, and philosophy will definitely be discussed. As the Christian faith is my core philosophy and the lens through which I see the world, it will probably come up in one way or another often. I will include discussions of my experiences (such as my recent acquisition of a cat and my struggles to name it), and if you figure in those, there’s a good chance you’ll make an appearance here.

That’s it – happy reading. If I hold up my end of the bargain here, I hope it will be an edifying part of your week, and more addictive than heroin…