I have started a blog. You're welcome.

In my vanity, I have decided to create a blog. Perhaps mine can rise above the din of the millions of other half-assed vanity projects floating around on the web to help me organize my thoughts and say something worthwhile about such topics as politics, culture, libraries and whatever else interests me at any given moment. It is named "autodidact" because I think of the blog as an aspect of my ongoing self-education after leaving the warm but sometimes smothering embrace of academia.

In this and other projects, I draw inspiration from the words of Kurt Vonnegut, who said that "Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous award. You will have created something."

While I certainly wouldn't argue that blogging of any kind can be considered art, at least I'll be getting something out of my system. And even if it winds up sucking, you can make fun of me in the comments section.