The start of something old and new

I had dabbled in blogging before it was blogging; posting personal comments, photos and information (and lots of humor) on my website from work.  I did this in the 90's but grew tired of the constant 'need' to update and was also concerned about the fear of providing too much personal information to people I didn't know.  And did I mention the imperative to update?  I had people asking for the latest installment of my humor archive - like I didn't have a real job?  I just got tired of updated and avoided posting personal information.  Servers were closed down and parts of my web space were put into long hibernation.

I have also avoided a lot of the social networking sites where ever possible.  The people I socialize with, I talk to on the phone or at least a minimal e-mail.  And I have never seen the need to publicize my comments or 'blog' in the last decade.  

But two things in the past two days have changed my mind.  

The inauguration of Barack Obama and a workshop on electronic teaching tools.  In both of these events it was clear that blogging seems to have a utility beyond just posting your thoughts for the world to see - and comment on.

And finally it seems appropriate to me as I start to develop a training schedule for the upcoming Climate Ride in September that it might be interesting for me to keep a journal.  And since this is going to be a public endeavor, why not share this endeavor? 

The internet is still one big soap box.  But for now I think I feel that I can reenter the milieux.