Rules By Which I Blog

I admit I’m new to the blogging thing. I am also quite certain that those that have been blogging for years are wary of Johnny-blog-lately’s that are new to the blogging thing (I would be). I acknowledge this fact and intend to tread lightly until I learn the ropes. The dilemma: There are really no ropes to learn.

There are rules at my job, rules in my house, rules at my dry cleaners, rules of the road and even rules of attraction. But apparently the only rule that seems to apply universally in the blog world is that there are no rules in the blog world. This is slightly unsettling to the left side of my brain. But not to worry. To make peace inside my head (well, at least with this issue), I’ve taken a stab at self-regulation. Here they are:

I will:

1. Attempt to be interesting.
2. Adhere to most known rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
3. Vary my content.
4. Only curse for emphasis, dammit.
5. Attempt to stimulate chuckles (and no, not the clown, silly).
6. Respond to e-mail.
7. Include photos where possible.
8. Learn from other blogs, but not imitate them.
9. Be friendly.
10. Hope for readers.

I will NOT:

1. Betray confidences.
2. Attempt to join the blogger community until I have done this for a while.
3. Drone on about my dreams or my dog.
4. Make up silly pseudonyms for the important people in my life.
5. Use my blog as a pulpit.
6. Take myself too seriously.
7. Steer people to my site just because they happen to be gay.
8. Advertise anything.
9. Publish naked pictures of myself (I prefer to e-mail them). :P
10. Cry when no one shows up to read.

We'll see how things go with these. I hope I'll stick to this long enough to look back someday and see just how naive (or perceptive) I once was.