My dear scibling and fellow big-nose European Bora, over at the one Sblog that comes before Aard in the alphabetical list, has “tagged me with a meme”. That is, he has handed me a coat of chainmail. No, he’s sent me a chain letter, with a blogging assignment. I usually don’t bother about these things because a) I’m afraid to scare readers away, b) I don’t find them very fun to write myself. But this time, the question is one that might actually be interesting to some people, and somebody posed it to me face-to-face recently. Why do I blog?

As a hint, let me first quote from The Jet’s latest album (see sidebar left).

“Hey pretty girl sit next to me
Coz I’m a ten foot diamond on a Christmas tree”

There are two main reasons for me to blog. A, I love to write. And B, having readers makes me feel like a ten-foot diamond on a Christmas tree.

My scholarly work is solitary and wins me few accolades as few people care about my field. My lifestyle is that of a family man. Getting to do something I enjoy and being instantly rewarded with the attention of smart people all over the world seems like an excellent arrangement to me. Without question, blogging is the single most appreciated contribution I make to the world.

I’ve also been asked how I manage to blog, writing on average one entry a day, which seems a lot to some people. That’s easy. Most importantly, since my teens I’ve watched less than an hour of TV a week on average. Since I took up blogging I’ve also cut down a bit on book-reading and kicked a 16-year online-forum habit. Really, a blog is an on-line forum where a single participant gets all the attention.

Here’s where I infect other bloggers with the meme. Henrik, Kai, Karen, Lars, Malin, you’re it!

Update 6 April: Mike Jensen is tracking the spread of this chainmail coat.