The First Entry, just keep it to yourself

I feel that the first post to my blog should include some statements of purpose and principle, or at least an explanation of faults I'm sure will materialize in the future of the site. I'm not an html adept and although one of the purposes of the site is to perhaps develop some skills, I don't really aspire to any extraordinary design or breathtaking features. That said, providing content is what really leads me to blogging, although one of the reasons I've been hesitant to begin before now is the fear that I'll get started and either begin to spend too much time on it or rapidly lose interest, leaving a "cobwebpage," one of the least attractive features of the net.

I recognize the oddity of calling a blog (I have no patience with cultural tastemakers who want to distinguish the "blogs" of the illiterate masses from "web journals" or whatever other term they've contrived to elevate the stature of their own efforts) "Confidential Report." It's posted on the web, hardly "confidential." I chose that title for three reasons: 1) I'm remaining anonymous, or at least not advertising my identity so that I may be more candid; 2) I'm a fan of the largely unsung and misunderstood Welles film that goes by that name; and 3) I don't expect that many people will read this, and it will thus remain "confidential" in at least that sense.

OK, why write a blog for a limited or non-existent audience? I certainly haven't rushed into the enterprise; I might even claim to have waited long enough for blogging to have become thoroughly outdated before starting. I said earlier that "providing content" was what led me to this, although "expelling content" might be more accurate, as I will probably be using this space to launch into tirades about various things that irritate and annoy me. I can be enthusiastic in praise and scorn, and often have unjustified impulses to share my enthusiasms with others. Usually, these impulses are satisfied with talking to friends or colleagues, or through emails to same, but this places too much of a burden on these unfortunates. My wife, particularly, is a long-suffering woman in this regard.

Through this blog, I can satisfy my impulses to "share" without actually requiring anyone to endure my invectives and digressions. If you find the content of this page diverting or thought-provoking (I thought the first was a stretch, but the second has a satisfying open-endedness when you consider that not all provoked thoughts need be good) then I'm pleased. If not, I offer no apologies. I didn't ask you to read it, after all.