Where have all the bloggers gone?

I was reflecting today on the drive home about what happened to blogging. This reverie was induced by the recent return of my pal Nanner to the blogsphere after a bit of an absence. It got me to thinking that only about 2 of the bloggers I used to regularly read still post on some sort of regular basis. Most of them (including myself) almost never post any more. Some have even taken down their blogs. It seems Facebook and Twitter have replaced the blogsphere.

I get how it's much easier to put up one sentence or post a quick picture and move on. Writing a blog requires writing. And it seems like we don't have time for it anymore. It's almost like the death of the much lamented letter. You remember. When you used to have to put pen to paper and then stuff the result in an envelope with a stamp? We've become an impatient culture. We need instant gratification and access to the web 24/7 via a smartphone. How many of you have one? I do (though it's not my personal device. My personal cell phone is just a PHONE.) How many of you have a smartphone with a touch screen? That's what I thought.

I must say that I miss my friends that I found via the world of blogs. A couple I got to meet in person, some I spoke to on the phone, but I got to know all of them from their writings. Tales of family triumphs and tragedies. Rants about things that annoyed and thoughts philosophic. You really got to know people. Now, I have like 70 friends on Facebook (some former bloggers) and I really don't care what they have to say. Some posts are indecipherable (such as a song lyric that means something only to the person posting) or the fact that they're going to bed now. How low did we get that we need to catalog every moment of our lives for the world to see?

Those of you that have me as a friend on Facebook know that I don't put much out there either. I must admit, it is easy, but the only reason I do is just because most of the people I care to put up content for are on facebook. I dumped my twitter account because it was dumb. And I NEVER used it. So does this mean I'll be regularly posting here again? Beats me. Perhaps when I'm in a mood such as now I'll just ramble away. After all, I'm a rocker and a guy, and I tend to ramble. But you knew that from the blog title, didn't you?

So beyond the philosophical meanderings of the current state of blogging, I'm entering into my "slow" season of the year. Meaning, instead of having a kid's activity EVERY day of the week, it's only like 4 times a week. And my graduate course is winding down. Come July 9, I'm done with school for the summer. I plan on doing some summer reading, as much biking as I can fit in, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I may post something about how I appreciate all the women in my life as it occurs to me periodically how blessed I am to have some especially wonderful women within my circle, beginning with my beloved wife (yes, I said beloved. Blame it on Shelly as I just finished reading Frankenstein). I might post something on the joys of biking in general and my new road bike specifically. My thighs are killing me since I'm using new muscles. I could post something about how Christopher managed to turn his grades around for 4th quarter and do really well, under threat of pain of death. Or I could go on about how Nicholas (formerly known as Grasshopper) makes me crazy. So much material.

So you can expect me to be around this old place more often. Or perhaps not. Time will tell. I will say that I got the most amusing notice EVER today. Blogger is set up to email me when someone comments. I got a comment from someone I didn't know concerning an old post of mine about smash sandwiches in France. For some reason, I get a lot of hits when people google it. As it turns out, this post was from 2005. Yes, someone commented on a post I wrote FIVE YEARS AGO! Which leads to the realization that I've been doing this for at least that long. Anyway, I know a couple of you stop by her on occasion so I'll gladly continue to fill you in on all things banal and exciting as the muse guides me. In the immortal words of Led Zepplin, I'm going to ramble on. Or perhaps more like Steve Martin rambling. And if you don't know what I mean, go look it up.