It'd be a funny old world if we were all the same.

And believe me, the irony of that subject is not lost, as I lay here in my glorious bed starting a blog simply because "everyone else is doing it." It's the done thing right now, isn't it? So here we are.

The first post is an interesting phenomenon that has often plagued me, for a given value of plague. In fact, I really don't think plagued is the right word. Endemic-ed me, maybe, or even just mildly irritated. It's a curious thing, the first post, because there are so many things you could do with it:

1) You could give a great deal of background about yourself, your life, your hobbies and your job. Typically, I find this is the approach that is taken, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. After all, it's a first post, and while this is where you, the writer, begins, most of your readers probably won't. Who reads a blog from beginning to end? Think about it, of the blogs you follow, how many did you start following right at the beginning, so that you could really catch that possibly-crucial information download in post #1? Very few, I'm willing to bet. No, you were probably linked to a post in a blog and started following it because it was interesting, or funny. You missed post #1. And if the author of the blog filled post #1 with all sorts of details that are essential to you reading the blog and really getting the point of it, well, you'll always be a bit lost, won't you? There will always be questions.

And frankly, if the blog has the sort of author that keeps referencing post #1, like "as I said in my first post, I really have a deep fear of de-icing salt on the roads . . ." it's probably not a blog you'd want to follow, first of all because an author shouldn't have to reference their past entries - that's a bit too much like studying. And also, if they're truly frightened of salt, then perhaps they're not really the sort of person you want to follow anyway, or maybe they are, on the basis that anyone that's afraid of that sort of thing is clearly deeply strange and troubled, and probably hilarious.

2) You could simply jump right in to posting, to blogging. Start with a routine entry. This is an approach that is frequently taken with travel blogs, which makes sense. But to start a blog of one's daily living, without acknowledging a beginning, is a bit silly, isn't it? I mean, it's all well and good for your first post to read "Today I landed in Barcelona, and we straightaway traveled through the city to Las Ramblas," especially if you're not from Spain. If you are from Spain, you have failed to acknowledge the beginning of the blog, which is just awkward. You can't start a blog with "My apartment is filthy and I've been meaning to clean it for about a week but I really just haven't been able to find the time." First of all, no one cares about your apartment, unless you're a hoarder, in which case you probably don't think it's filthy. Secondly, no acknowledgment for the blog? Nothing to salute its beginning? Sort of disgraceful.

3) You could write about the tribulations of starting a blog, and what to put in the first post. This is a little satirical, and a little ironic, and probably appeals to the sort of people that use Macintosh computers and get a thrill out of how clever they are.

Since I am one of those people, I went with option #3. See what I did there? It's fairly transparent, really, so if you didn't I recommend you work a bit harder; do try to keep up.

The beginning thus acknowledged, I feel like this is a good place to start talking about the mundane things I do with my life. Today, for example, I will be driving around a local neighborhood, for a group project. This is the second group project I've had to do in the course of getting my BSN (bachelor's of science in nursing, because the fact that previously I'd somehow managed to get a bachelor's of arts in biology was a bit confusing and embarrassing) and, hopefully, it won't be unbearable. In fact, I'm fairly sure it won't be unbearable for me, because all I have to do is drive. My partner has to do all the actual work of writing things down, so that's kind of brilliant for me. All I have to do is obey traffic laws. Fairly simple.

Watch me get a ticket, that would be rich.

Following said group project, I will be going to work. As a writer, I really love my job, because I get to talk to people. Terry Pratchett, possibly the best author ever to live, said that the key to becoming a good author is to read, as much as you can, anything you can get your hands on. It's good advice, very sound, but it's missing something. People who do nothing but read seldom make good authors, I think, because you can only learn so much from a book. So the key, in my personal philosophy, is to read all you can, but for God's sake, talk to people. All the time. Talk to people socially, talk to them on business terms, talk to them like they're your best friend. This goes double if you're struggling with characters - everybody has a little character in them, so TALK. People can be kind or cruel, interesting or monotonous, organized or a hot mess, but they are always and forever hilarious and unique. My job lets me talk to people non-stop (I call people and ask for money but I am definitely not a telemarketer, no sir, absolutely not, according to the organization I work for. The moment they told me this was the moment I figured they're probably liars with an excellent PR department).  It's fun, and it's entertaining, and it's quite nice that they can't see my face when I'm talking to them, because that makes sounding sincere and caring so much easier.

In my last job, they could see my face. Equally instructive, because lying with your voice is easy. Lying with your whole face is like the painting the Mona Lisa, although less messy and infinitely less likely to land you in a museum one day. That said, someone needs to rope off a spot in the Louvre for Queen Elizabeth II. Woman has that grandmotherly smile down to a science.

In any case, I will endeavor to update this daily, although that's a long shot and I'm telling you right now that won't happen.

And should I somehow manage to break a traffic law today I will definitely be back later, because I do love myself some irony.