Raised in North Dakota, I now live in Oregon. I know green & forty below. I’m moderately educated & well-read, mostly because I don’t watch television. I know some pretty important people though they never call. My God’s crazy. Oh yeah. I’m probably older than you.
MuseHead is a form of alternative out-loud thinking. It strives to be fresh, intelligent, free ranging, irreverent, witty, literary, well written, prolific, and (on occasion) actually worth reading. It’s also a bit of work.
Unfortunately, I take this frivolity seriously. Each post is a snack-sized attempt to crack open the surface of things, to provoke thought, and to elicit response. But I’m not only interested in ideas; each post is a deliberate shot at the writer’s craft. Maybe more than I should, I consider each word and sentence, hoping to render every post a minor work of art. And so far, I’m attempting it daily. (As I write this sentence the wall clock shows exactly 6am.) This is irresponsible and I should be rewarded for it.
Most successful mainstream blogs are nichy. They focus on politics, religion, technology, books, or some other sub-interest. MuseHead has no focus. Well, not exactly anyway. Here the concern is the Big Picture—and whatever connects to it—served with a dab of style, a dash of attitude, and a dollop of that certain je nais se qua.
It’s a ridiculous enterprise, especially when you consider the odds of it even being read. It is estimated that there are over 100 million blogs worldwide, 50 million in the US alone. The chances of gathering a congregation of your own is staggeringly small. Even the superstar megablogs can claim barely a third of the circulation of a big city newspaper. And when you add the fact that MuseHead unabashedly assumes its own genius, it may be even harder gathering readers, especially sensitive types. Even so, humility is definitely out.
Still, I write MuseHead to be read by as many people as grit and gall can make possible. (My efforts at MuseHead evangelism may seem a bit overbearing to some.) And though I want to dominate the web world, I’d settle for a significant percentage of the renegade faithful.
In spite of my megalomania, however, I am a realist. I check my blog stats regularly. I’m encouraged when numbers go up, disappointed when they take a dive. I greet with delight comments submitted by readers and bear the loneliness of posts that do not generate a single written response.
Should MuseHead slump in obscurity, fumbling its raison d’etre, there will be no life support measures. (If a blog broods on the web and nobody reads it does it exist?) MuseHead will not be allowed to languish unloved or unhated; it must thrive or die; it is relentless ascendancy or death by deletion. But like the title of the Don Henley song, “I will not go quietly.” Then again, I might.
