Mission Statement

I had a college roommate who was a sports fanatic. By that, I don't mean he just watched Monday Night Football or had a closet full of baseball cards from his childhood. I mean he lived and breathed ALL sports, from archery to wrestling. Long before Wikipedia, he typed up a list of 44 different sports from around the world and I still have a copy of it in "the box" (see my 9/11/08 post for what that means). Anyway, I was having a conversation with him one time and each point of discussion led him into a sports story. I began to wonder if I did the same thing, but with movies. I vowed right then and there to never let my conversations with other people revolve around one thing, or at least the same thing from one conversation to the next. I started making a conscious effort to catch myself anytime I almost blurted the words, "Did you ever see the movie...?" Lately, I've been worried that the few people who stop to read my blog think my life revolves around movies (my Monday label), music (Tuesdays), and/or comics (Wednesdays). I shudder to think my blog schedule represents the whole of my existence, or that anyone's blog sums up all the things they would say to you if you sat next to them on a plane.

My brother from another mother once told me something he read in a magazine. I'm paraphrasing, but he said that if you can make it through an entire conversation with someone you just met without learning where they're from or what they do for a living, then you're an interesting person. That was when I was in college (as with the story above), so I substituted "where do you work?" for "what's your major?" and made it a point to NEVER ask anyone either of those questions. And anytime I met somebody and those were the first questions they asked me, I had to pause and smirk, because I knew I was entering what would probably end up being a very lame conversation. I worry that the blogging equivalent to asking a new acquaintance rote questions is to scan content for labels. Fortunately, you only have to interact with the people who actually leave comments, and the fact that they've done that usually means that they think you're interesting. When looking a blog for the first time, do you read the newest post first or the profile? And how important or trustworthy is a profile, or a post for that matter? My parents have complained that my current profile is not only cryptic but utterly nonsensible. Was that my intention? No, quite the opposite in fact. I consider my profile to be very informative, it's just not about me.

WHO AM I?

My blog is no more me than I am snark on my sleeve. It's a place to write (and use up memory on someone else's server) what I would otherwise put on paper and save in "the box." Unfortunately, "the box" is already full and, as I mentioned in my 9/11/08 post, a person could only become acquainted with the contents therein if they physically handled them, whereas you could get introduced to my blog from anywhere in the world. I've chosen to blog about (predominantly entertainment-related) things that I think total strangers might find interesting. They may not be the MOST interesting things about me and sometimes they may not have anything to do directly with me at all. In other words, my blog is not my "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). I have political beliefs and I do other things besides watch movies, listen to music, and read comics, but I'm not going to blog about them 'cuz who wants to read that? If you're just writing for yourself and I am, that's one thing. But who wants to read and reread their own thoughts about their work, home life, personal hygiene, et cetera when they spend all day everyday thinking about those very things? A blog should be an escape from the humdrum, not a detailed description of it! I don't want people thinking my blog is ABOUT what I do, it just IS one of the things I do.

WHY AM I HERE?

My blog is for my own entertainment, and yours too, if you're interested. I view readers and comments as a bonus. I hate to think I'm egocentric, but I could sit and read my blog for hours. My wife told me there are people who can print your blog as a hardcover book and I'm all about that. I told her that would make a great gift, if there were any possible way I could clear all the copyrighted pictures I've used. I didn't start a blog because it was the new fad. My wife begged me to join her in blogging for almost eight months, but it seemed too much like chatrooms to me and for the record, I have never been to a chatroom. Not once. I remember the first time I went on the internet. I set up an e-mail account and looked up some stuff for school. It seemed like every other person in the computer lab that day was visiting a chatroom, and no offense to anyone who has made a lifelong friend online, but I vowed right then and there to never substitute my life away from computers for a virtual one. Call me crazy, but I even feel icky checking message boards. This may be a generational gap, but networking sites will never replace face to face contact for me. My blog may inadvertently lead others to get to know me, but it's primarily for ME getting to know me. Each post is a writing exercise to practice putting my thoughts into words, which you may or may not ever read, agree with, or comment on, but that's not the point.

WHERE AM I GOING AFTER I DIE?

Oops, I guess I lied when I said my blog is just for entertainment. Someday, whether I like it or not, my blog will definitely represent me to people I will never meet during my life, maybe descendants or anthropologists. I haven't been so good about keeping a journal, so for now, my blog is the next best thing. I better get cracking if I don't want this to be the only imprint I leave on the world. For now, I better start writing some kind of a mission statement or the title of this post will be another lie. Here goes: "I Wear My Snark Upon My Sleeve" will always be unique because it will always be primarily about me, and I am unique. I will maintain uniqueness in blogging by neither following nor reacting against trends. I will insure that posts are interesting by only writing what I myself would reread again and again. "I Wear My Snark Upon My Sleeve" is so named because I will never hesitate to make snide remarks that might bring joy to others while leaving myself vulnerable to sorrow, be it from rebuttal and/or rejection. "I Wear My Snark Upon My Sleeve" will be the most accurate and exhaustive blog about me available anywhere on the interweb. Thanks for reading this far and may you find something of value to take with you from this post.