Shades of Mediocrity

Welcome! Now let's lower those expectations!

I swore I'd never do this, but ... here I am, blogging. Well. When John was starting up Bitter Dregs, we had a pretty involved discussion about successful, interesting blogs and what made them that way. I maintained that the best blogs were about one thing -- and the more obsessed the blogger was with her topic, the more compelling her blog would be. I declared myself especially unsuited to successful blogging, because I'm such a dilettante: I'm a little bit interested in a whole lot of things, but I'm not really focused on anything in particular.

But when it comes right down to it, I'm far too weak to resist the lure of blogging. Or at least experimenting with a blog. Or something. So we'll try this for a while, and see how it goes. But first, a mini-manifesto (in list form) on what Shades of Mediocrity will and will not be.

• Shades of Mediocrity will include my ramblings on whatever topics or ideas strike my fancy at any given time. Typical topics will probably include libraries, music, fiction, film, current events, and popular culture. On the tiny chance that something interesting happens in my life, I will probably write about that, as well. Posts might be very brief, or they might run to mini-essay length. It will depend on the topic and how ambitious I'm feeling.
• Shades of Mediocrity will not include up-to-the-minute information on (or criticism of) new music, books, or films. The simple fact is, I'm usually well behind the curve in catching on to the next big thing. By the time I've discovered it, it's usually been examined from every possible angle in every possible venue, from the New York Times to your twelve-year-old cousin's blog. Nevertheless, there is a small chance that you will find my observations interesting. I suppose it's also possible that you'll be even further behind the curve than I am, in which case, you might discover something you didn't know about but will love. Hey, it could happen...
• Shades of Mediocrity will not be side-splittingly funny. I'd like to be a funny person, but I'm just not. The occasional witty comment is about as much as I can manage.
• Let's be honest. Shades of Mediocrity, like many (most?) blogs, is basically a vanity project. I'm writing this because I think someone out there might be vaguely interested in what I have to say. I expect that the interested parties will be my friends and family members. All of this is a complicated way of saying that this is a way for anyone who cares to keep up with me, what I'm doing, what I'm reading, and so on. Don't expect deep insights or revolutionary ideas. I don't have any.
• I agree strongly with the notion that one of the advantages of the blog format is its ability to facilitate discussion and exchange of ideas, filtered (of course) through the author's sensibility. So please, comment away. I really want to know what you think of my ideas (pedestrian though they are likely to be). Plus, it's nice just to know that somebody's reading the thing.
• Finally, I make no guarantees about how frequently Shades will be updated. It might be daily, it might be weekly. Most likely, it will happen two or three times a week, but don't be surprised if I drop out of sight for a while. I will try to post a warning when I know that's going to happen.

So, after all of that, are any of you still with me? Well, if you are, welcome! I'll try to come up with my first non-meta blog post within the next day or so, so please come back. Heck, if you're feeling really wild and crazy, you could even bookmark this...