Awww Thanks Jay...

So, my post announcing my decision to include myself in the whole A to Z thing received it's first comment from Jay where he was kind enough to spell out what is important to him about blogging. He was also kind enough to thank me for my participation in the blogging hobby.

His comment inspired me to comment back and that comment turned into this post. So, Jay, thank you for your comment and for inspiring me to write the following...

I feel blogging is as much for everyone else as it is for me. Sure, it might be viewed as a bit of a narcissistic bent, and that would be true to an extent. After all, we gamers have always had a bit of the "hey look at me or what I did' sort of thing going on. But really it is about community and the extension of that community in a way that we were not allowed in ages prior to the quick and easy flow of information across an electronic medium.

There is so much that I get from the blogging thing. There is inspiration, motivation, education and a dozen other "-ations", including occasional humiliation, that I can tap into through this keyboard and this screen. These might have been had at the local gaming store back in the days of my youth, but how many of those are there these days. Without stores, clubs and the free time of my earlier gaming career, blogging is really the only other outlet I have for getting the ol' geek on besides my regular weekly game night. But I think it goes even farther than that.

Besides the latest conversion, D30 table, or monster of the week, blogging has led to many things I would not likely have had if not for blogging. I have friends across the globe now. I'm not just talking gaming buddies who I swap dice talk with. These are people who I share my life and its happenings with. This sort of social networking has not replaced more localized socializing but it has allowed me to venture forth beyond the confines of my geography and experience people from other regions and lands that I am sure I'll never be able to visit. Back in my childhood this used to be encouraged and we called in having a "pen pal". Now, I've got there folks who are my sort of "pixel pals" that I communicate with through the virtual ink of my blog and the emails that have been born of those blog communications.

My sculpting is something that I can attribute to blogging as well. Though the first steps toward my sculpting were taken long ago when I converted my own figures for use in other games, it really was spring boarded by this blog. The ability to share my progress and elicit commentary and tips from those in the know. It has allowed me to network and get my work out there through companies like 15mm.co.uk. Even my budding business of Loud Ninja Games is likely a byproduct of my increased knowledge, awareness, and initiation into the greater community at large through blogging.

Soooo...

Yeah, blogging good, fire bad.

Thanks for reading,

-Eli