One question I keep getting on this blog despite having answered it more than once is why did I start it. Since I keep getting it, there's a good chance that the answers given so far have been unsatisfying (or invisible to the reader). So here's another attempt at an explanation especially now that even the Ontario Legislature has observed Romania’s National Day and BI thought of coming up with this challenge (i.e., why are you proud of being part of the blogo.ro-oaie).

First, this is what I’d call a “loaded question”, but let’s indulge it. There is more than an answer in the FAQ – see the menu above or a more philosophical one in How I met Liiceanu, a round-about explanation (in Romanian), one in style, and there are bits and pieces elsewhere. It all comes down to I wanted to write, vent/express my frustrations and document my existence. Keeping a written journal would have been too girly and liable to be lost. An online journal resolves somewhat  the aforementioned issues and has a few extra advantages:

• it is searchable,
• bits and pieces can be easily retrieved and shared with others,
• it is also a stepping stone to a different kind of income stream, in the event it proves to be popular

I started with this blog and wrote a few more, as I wanted to compartmentalize my interests. For instance, when describing the reasons why I sold my car (back in 2002 or 2003), I wrote in another blog an article about living car-free, as a first step to living care-free.

I used to be quite opinionated and still am, though perhaps less so in the years that bring the philosophic mind. Once, a very long time ago, in my ESL class, we were supposed to write a letter to a newspaper. I reluctantly wrote it, not because I had no opinions, but because I wasn’t happy about subjecting myself to the whims of a newspaper editor. I felt that my writing is awesome and that I don’t need anyone’s approval or encouragement. I prefer to write under a banner that is much more under my control than publishing on other people’s estates.

One of the initial drivers in starting this blog was the belief (and desire) that I would be able to somehow recreate online my debating club environment, but that has yet to happen. In fact, I’ve given up on that hope. Online debating is (or would be) unsatisfying even when done with people who are capable of argumentum both logically and entertainingly (and there’s very few of those).

LE: I continued with a clearer explanation on why online debating is unsatisfying in online debating, toujours-insatisfaisante. I also added below a link to a summary of a New York Times article reviewing research on the healing and self-improvement power of telling your personal story (inbo-research).

Sources / More info: bi, inbo-research