From a September 2011 Atlantic article about V.S. Naipaul by Joseph O'Neill, a possible explanation for why I blog:"A deep formal rationale for going to the enormous trouble of committing words to paper over time is to find respite from the intellectually and morally chaotic buffoon who goes through the world minute by minute, and bring into being that better, more coherent entity known as the author."
Yes, I'm very behind in reading my magazines. I've just finished last September's Atlantic. But isn't that a fascinating explanation for why people write? And doesn't it explain why it can be disappointing to meet a favorite author in person? We want them to be as superhuman as the artifacts they produce would suggest they are.
Sometimes I worry that my blog only covers the high, funny and interesting parts of my parenting life. And even with those limitations, I think I end too many posts on an ambiguously positive note. Perhaps I write in order to believe that much more strongly in my own competence as a parent?
At any rate, I want to go look up some of Joseph O'Neill's writing.