Why another blog?

Kind reader, you might complain: The internet is full of chatter. Why add another blog? A fair question.

Part of it is vanity: Everyone else is doing it; why shouldn't I?

Part of it is curiosity: Why are so many people talking about their personal lives online?

Part of it is expedience: Now let people complain that I don't tell them enough about myself.

I resisted blogging for a while. I didn't want to do what everyone else was doing; I had to do something different. It was only after I thought of a purpose and an appropriate title, that I consented.

Cantànima: anyone familiar with a romance language will recognize its Latin roots: cantàre + ànima. In English, I might translate it as A Soul Sings, except that it sounds awful by comparison.

Cantànima: thoughts that reach towards heaven, without being saccharine or insincere.

A difficult proposition! The awful truth is that I'm often petty, shallow, and obsessive about what seems wrong with the world. Last night, for example, I had a hard time letting go of a political argument at the office.

I'd like to think the world has enough pessimism, cynicism, and vulgarity. If I wanted to demagogue my politics, I'd go to the office and have it out with my officemates, or turn on the radio, or watch television. So you won't find that here. I hope. (Remind me of this when I break this promise in the future, because I probably will break it in the future.)

You might, however, find an occasionally peculiar view towards heaven — I'm planning my next post (or two) to consider a question on who would win if Victor Hugo's brain were locked with Fyodor Dostoevsky's in a cage for a no-holds-barred wrestling match.

Don't worry: they won't all be like that.

Anyway, I'll try to make this an interesting weblog, and I'll try to update it two or three times a week, but no promises. I do invite suggestions, but since it's a weblog, I get to do most of the talking, not you. :-P If you want to talk, start your own blog and tell me about it. I promise I'll visit it at least once.

I'll also try to keep future posts shorter than this. Nothing irritates me more than the long screeds that populate so many... uhm... yeah.

Gotta look towards heaven.