Blog Pledges

RPG luminary Robin Laws has “started a blog”:http://www.livejournal.com/users/robin_d_laws/ (a livejournal, technically). (Hat tip to Emily at “20×20”:http://www.20by20room.com/.) Right out of the gate, he has included a number of “pledges”:http://www.livejournal.com/users/robin_d_laws/300.html.

  1. When I am sick, I pledge not to write a blog entry about it.
  2. And, if, in my delirium, I do backslide and whinge about being down with a bug, I further pledge never to describe the current state of my mucus, no matter how vitally compelling I may consider it to be.
  3. Nor will I write to inform you that nothing interesting has happened to me, and/or that I am bored. Further, I will not tell you how crappy or uncrappy my day has been. I acknowledge that by putting a piece of writing in the public view, I am obligated to at least try to make it in some way entertaining.
  4. I will never inform you that I woke up this morning; this will be assumed to be evident from context.
  5. Never will I write merely to vent about bureaucratic run-arounds and/or poor customer service.
  6. Even though I am a Canadian and it is my birthright, I will never post to tell you what the current weather is in Toronto, even if said weather is affecting my mood in a significant way.
  7. I shall not commit the sin of linkage! No posts consisting of a one-line comment and then the exact same URL half the blogs on the net are also pointing at today.
  8. As much as I like photos of other people’s cats, I promise not to acquire a cat for the purposes of posting its image to the journal. This would be insincere. And I’m allergic.
  9. The next time my computer goes bung — and oh yes, we all know it will go bung — I will not make my subsequent return to journaling an account of my hellish tech experience, no matter how much my thwarted co-dependence on technology has laid me low.
  10. The only light permitted will be natural light; the only music, source music. _Oh wait, wrong list_ . . .
  11. I pledge never to wax mystical on the nature of the creative process.
  12. I shall abjure, abominate and otherwise refrain from any and all cute quizzes in which one figures out what kind of action figure, abstract philosophical concept or bar of soap one might be.
  13. I promise not to post in Spanish, as I do not speak, read or write it.

The blogsphere would be a better place if more people abided by these rules. I have tried to abide by a similar set of guidelines, but have been smart enough not to _articulate_ them. Now the rest of us can play the game of seeing how long it takes Mr. Laws to violate one of his pledges. Those who know him personally can start a betting pool, perhaps.

My confession: Of the above pledges, I am guilty of violating #5, #9, and #13 at least once but no more than thrice apiece. On numerous occasions (including this post) I’ve been, if not _technically_ guilty of #7, guilty of a related-but-lesser charge. My great failing is undoubtedly #12, though in my defense I must say that I pass along only a small fraction of the quizzes I come across.