#169 - Personal Blog Evolution

The Woundup celebrated one year of sporadic blogging this past June 21. Happy Blogday to Me. Looking back, it's amusing to see what evolutionary paths this ol' blog has taken.

In the beginning, I simply enjoyed blogging for blogging's sake. Of course, like many who have recently reached this milestone, the election year had a lot to do with my early motivation: Kerry simply afforded far too many opportunities to become hyped about some silly thing or other. Bush had (and has) his share of silliness, but Kerry's was, ultimately, far more dangerous to our national concerns and security.

As I continued, however, it became obvious to me that what I really needed was a thematic approach. My brother tried it a few different ways before I finally figured out for myself what I needed. I needed an outlet for my Inner Dad.

"The Inner Dad" is a book that I've written. Don't bother Googling, it ain't out there. It sits on my hard drive in various formats, mostly written but in serious need of massaging. It dwells on the idea that, like Dave Barry's "guys," many men are Dads deep down - appearances to the contrary. As my blogging skills matured, I realized that many of the essays that I've written over the years really pointed to this idea of canonizing Dadhood, with only occasional forays into the realm of the screed. For that reason, the Woundup really is my political platform. It becomes the voice of my inner activist, a persona I tend to keep locked up tight in a small box in an even darker dungeon. I let him out only when I smell an issue on which I absolutely cannot remain quiet. Long live the Woundup.

The Woundup, therefore, is my link to the conservative world. It remains mindful that there are voices that would destroy everything for which I've worked - in my own way - to protect. I may not have defended my country while wearing a uniform, but I am a soldier of a sort. I refuse to simply sit back while those who are far less in tune with my needs attempt to sabotage my basic rights. It becomes my responsibility to raise my voice, even when that voice is occasionally trumped by far more eloquent ones - my brother among them.

For that reason, the Woundup has allied itself with the Bear Flag League. I may not agree word for word with everything they espouse, but then even among minorities I tend to be a minority. (I refer, of course, to the idea of being not only a white middle-aged male in an age where to be such is considered terribly un-PC, but to the fact that I am a white middle-aged Mormon male in an age where to be such is considered heretical, especially among many so-called "Christians". Go figure.) Still, the League is a platform where my views will engender somewhat less disdain than they would on, say, MoveOn.org.

This year figures to be an interesting one, politically. Not only are the lines being drawn early for the 2008 election, but California has a useless special election coming up. As soon as vacation is over, I plan to get uptight about that.

But not before then.