For Whom Do I Blog?

I have seen other bloggers post essays about themselves titled something like "Why I Blog." In this post, I am attempting to do the same thing, but from a different angle. Instead of why I blog, I want to explore who I'm blogging for. In other words, what characterizes the unseen audience at the other end of the computer cable that I'm hoping to reach with my words?

For whom do I blog?

I blog for the world’s misunderstood goofballs, those lovers of rubber chickens and funny hats, who make bad puns and stinker jokes, and patiently endure the rolling eyes of friends and family after they have committed yet another public embarrassment.

I blog for those who refuse to be easily categorized or compartmentalized, who like both country and classical music, Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello, highbrow foreign art films and Mel Brooks movies, Jane Austen and Mad magazine, Masterpiece Theatre and Spongebob Squarepants, Handel’s Messiah and the Jingle Cats, barbeque and Chinese food, being introverted and extroverted, cats and dogs, the city and the country, dressing up and going grunge, and who enjoy the world yet look forward to leaving it one day.

I blog for struggling Christians, who love their Lord with all of their hearts, minds and souls, and seek above all to grow closer to Him, but who still have problems properly digesting any spiritual food stronger than an Ovaltine shake, who continue to study the Bible although still unable to name all 12 apostles or all 10 commandments in proper order, and who secretly suspect that everyone else in church is more biblically literate and spiritually mature than they are.

I blog for suffering Houston Astros fans (and this includes all of them), who, like Wile E. Coyote, have been brought to the brink of ultimate victory many times, only to be flattened by the 10-ton anvil of fate.

I blog for those who were excluded from the popular groups and cliques in high school, who were burdened with acne and big glasses and braces and poor posture and social awkwardness, and had to endure ridicule as nerds, wimps, dorks, Einsteins, Poindexters, band queers, drama queers, mulletheads, greasers, rednecks, freaks and losers.

I blog for the intellectually curious, who always want to know “why?,” and who never believed the lie that studying and learning should end when you pick up a diploma.

I blog for biblioholics, who keep buying books they can’t afford and don’t have room to store, who endure years of questions such as “Are you ever going to read all of those books?,” who love even the smell and the feel of books, who will read anything, even classified ads or the back of cereal boxes, in a pinch, and for whom passing a large, unfamiliar bookstore without stopping is like an opium addict passing up a fresh pipe.

I blog for dyed-in-the-wool sentimentalists, who love old movies and old books and old ways and values, who reject the idea that something is better just because it’s newer, who believe that slower and simpler is often better than faster and more complex, and who still get misty-eyed at the end of “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

I blog for incurable romantics, who believe in leaving notes and flowers, who rarely pass up a chance to hold hands or smooch, who like all but the sappiest “chick flicks,” and who still cherish spending time with the one they love, no matter how many years have gone by.

I blog for the sensible sensualists, who do not desire to be ruled by their flesh, but nevertheless appreciate the smells and tastes and textures of the world, and can luxuriate in the warmth of a hot bath, the feel of cool cotton sheets, the smell of fresh baked bread, the beauty of a fiery sunset, and the sound of purring kittens and distant trains.

I blog for unabashed patriots, who never tire of singing the national anthem or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, who can still visit Washington, D.C., and feel a sense of awe and excitement, who know that, for all its faults and missteps, the United States of America is still the greatest country in the world and the last, best hope for freedom in an increasingly hostile world.

And finally, I blog for the blogless, who might read my simple attempts at collecting my thoughts online, and then think, “Hey, if he can do it, I can too.”