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Dec. 1 marked a year that I have been blogging on the Herald’s Web site, and it’s brought me a persepective about what it means to be a blogger.

When I first started, I was managing editor of the newspaper and the paper’s information technology guru, Don Judd, added a feature to the site that allowed people to upload commentaries to the Web site. We started with people on staff, including Don and Sports Editor Matt Hickman. Others tried their hand, but either were too busy with other duties or didn’t get in the groove of "blogging."

When I left the newspaper in May, I told Publisher Phil Vega that I wanted to keep up the blogging. It is a chance for me to write about what I like, and I have fun doing it. If someone reads my words and gets something from it, then all the better.

I know that people see it. I’ve seen comments to my blog, and I’m glad someone took the time to offer an opinion. Other responses come from people in the community who see my picture on the Web site or react to what I’ve written, such as my entry about what I was thankful for. My wife’s co-worker caught her in the hallway and said she had read what I’d written about Thanksgiving.

I really don’t consider this space to be a "blog." To me, blogging is something that is done on a Facebook or MySpace page. Many people who have these pages put up short messages to communicate with family, friends or the world. They typically are quick thoughts. And they typically are personal and can be updated daily. However, you shouldn’t be careless with you words, for they may either be seen by someone you didn’t want them to, or they’ll make you feel like a fool.

I said from the beginning I wasn’t going to update this space daily. I don’t have time for it, and I don’t want to put just anything into "The Grindstone," as I have called this blog space. I believe I need to write when I have a genuine thought to share, from concert reviews to album reviews to perspectives on moments in life. I have found I react to what I hear and read. I react to moments in my own life, which makes this easier to write than a story that appears on the front page of the newspaper. I know the facts or can quickly find them. I don’t have to work for them.

I believe that blogs are a chance to practice the craft of writing, too. Writing is like playing a sport: The more practice you get, the better you’ll be at it. Thank you to the Herald/Review for letting me continue to write. And thank you to the readers in the past year who have taken a few moments to read my words.
 
WRITER’S NOTE
There are a couple of noteworthy reactions to this blog that I have received, but none are better than an e-mail I received in the first weeks after I wrote about wanting to be part of the KOP singing "You’ll Never Walk Alone" before and after a Liverpool Football Club match at Anfield, the team’s legendary stadium in Liverpool, England.

After I wrote that entry, I received an e-mail from a local resident who had a father still living in England. She said that every time she spoke to her father on the phone, he would talk about the status of his favorite football team: Liverpool. He must be a frustrated Reds fan right now, given the struggles of the team this season.

In her e-mail, she wished me luck on my journey to Anfield some day. I will never forget her note to me, and from it I know that I will never walk alone in my passion for and enjoyment of the Liverpool Football Club.