What's all this, then?

When Mike suggested that he and I collaborate on a blog, I thought it was a terrible idea. "The two of us wouldn't fit in to blog world," I said. "You never write anything, and I don't have opinions." So Mike replied: "Maybe that's true, but..." And then, actually, I forget the rest of what he said.

Great story, huh?

Still, it doesn't hurt to give this thing a shot. So, in the unlikely event that this blog lasts for more than a week, what can you expect to read here? Heck if I know. But I can tell you what you won't be reading about: politics. Every blog in the universe is about politics. It's dumb. I couldn't possibly care less about politics. I don't follow it. I don't have opinions about it. It's just boring. I don't care who's running for what or which boring subjects they hold boring debates about.

"But Paul," you say. "How can you be so willfully ignorant about the most important things going on in our society?" Well, it's surprisingly easy! I spend my time following baseball, and TV, and anything else that I find interesting, and I ignore the snore-inducing stuff like politics. The only time I ever hear about what's going on in the political world is when I watch the Daily Show, and even then, I've forgotten all about whatever the issues were by the time the show is over (and if Jon Stewart is interviewing a political guest, I fast-forward through it). Such ignorance is very refreshing. You never have to whine about some political type doing something stupid. You never get into heated political debates that shatter friendships and make everyone hate you. You never have to be angry about anything...other than the Orioles, of course.

So you won't be seeing any politics in this blog, at least not from me. Anything else is fair game. (Ever been punched in the face by a random stranger? Remind to tell that story sometime.) And so begins Paul and Mike's Superblog.

The Grand Experiment

Hello, everyone, and welcome. It's been a while.

Back in college, I started my own weblog, even before the term "blog" reached critical mass. Indeed, I still don't like the term "blog;" it sounds like someone vomiting. Have you ever seen the new Showtime show Californication? I love that show. In the first episode, someone said "blog," and wiped his hand over his mouth as he said it. Try it now.

I kept up the weblog for some time, but updates were intermittent. Some weeks would have a dozen posts, and other times I'd go for months without an update. I decided, quite recently, that something should be done about that. Then, at a party, I saw people crowding around a computer with Paul's writeup of the Oriole's crusing 30-3 loss against the Texas Rangers, totally enamored with his writing. Even people like me, who have no interest in baseball whatsoever, seemed to enjoy it. People liked my writing, and people like Paul's writing, but neither of us have the drive to maintain a weblog with any sort of regularity. And thus began the great experiment... the Superblog.

The idea is, we'll each push each other to keep it up. I can't let Paul be the star here any more than he would let me. We'll see how it goes.