Thursday, September 30, 2010

A blog about nothing

If you’re a Seinfeld fan, then you know that the show was based upon the premise ‘a show about nothing.’ Remember that episode where Jerry and George tried to sell this concept to the TV producers? It was very clever. Seinfeld had no major plots, mysteries or dramatic earth changing events (aside from the episode of the soup Nazi!). The show was about every day life of a few people living in New York. The characters were who we identified with. Everyday situations, about nothing.

If one can create a successful sitcom with “nothing” as the theme, then why can’t one do the same in a blog space? For one thing, in a blog there are no major characters with whom to identify, except of course the author of the blog, in this case me. But the reader doesn’t know who I am; they simply can deduce certain nuances of my character (or lack thereof) from statements, observations, style of writing and theme selection. Someone once asked why I’m called “Frog.” The answer is complex and beyond a simple blog. Hopefully, you can identify with every day situations that you typically don’t think about, yet in a reflective sense, make a connection.

The Frog blog has no purpose, is random and may focus on community (or other such philanthropic activities), simple things in our life that are ‘interesting’ (at least to me) or may simply ramble on. A good example is what you’re reading right now. In a way, after I read my junk, I kinda feel the same way after a Seinfeld episode. It was funny, yet not life changing. Reading the Frog Blog is akin to trying to get real full by eating a bunch of lettuce. It’s like being at the 2nd mile marker in the Bolder Boulder, then realizing that you have to take a big crap. You really don’t know what to do with the situation. So it is when one decides to give up 10 minutes of your discretionary time to read the Frog Blog.

In direct contradiction to whatever it is that I’m writing about, the Frog Blog *does* have an objective and theme statement. I drafted this over 2 years ago. I share this out of embarrassment and in a somewhat defensive posture. “This column will, as its name implies, be a column with diverse and, in some cases, random, topics of interest, fun and opinion. Please expect articles that depict my opinion on certain matters, funny spoofs on life and how we approach things and whatever floats to the surface on the pond of life.”

So when you decide to read the Frog Blog, the owners manual is very simple; put your mind in neutral and allow it to drift. In the example of the Bolder Boulder, stop and relieve yourself in the bushes. For all of you “real” bloggers out there, my hat is off to you for your community involvement, your dedication to take the time to post facts and report on 'real' events. As for the Frog Blog, until they kick me off, I’ll continue to churn out the meaningless brouhaha because for at least me, it’s fun! Thank you for reading about absolutely nothing!