[thenightwriterblog] The Night Writer: Blogging before there were blogs

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Posted by The Night Writer:
Blogging before there were blogs
http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1172681065.shtml


     "And though nobody should read me, have I wasted time in
     entertaining myself so many idle hours in so pleasing and useful
     thoughts? In moulding this figure upon myself, I have been so often
     constrained to temper and compose myself in a right posture, that
     the copy is truly taken, and has in some sort formed itself;
     painting myself for others, I represent myself in a better
     colouring than my own natural complexion. I have no more made my
     book than my book has made me: 'tis a book consubstantial with the
     author, of a peculiar design, a parcel of my life, and whose
     business is not designed for others, as that of all other books
     is." 
     -- [1]Michel de Montaigne 

   Today's [2]Writer's Almanac reports the birthday of Michel de
   Montaigne, the literary creator of relatively short, written personal
   observations that he called "essays":

     It's the birthday of the great essayist Michel de Montaigne, born
     in Périgueux, France (1533). His father was a wealthy landowner.
     Montaigne went off to college and became a lawyer, but his father
     died when Montaigne was 38 years old. And so he retired to the
     family estate and took over managing the property. And it was there
     that he began to write. He wrote short pieces on various topics,
     and he called them "essays," because the French word "essai" means
     attempt.
     He lived at a time when religious civil wars were breaking out all
     over the country â Protestants and Catholics killing each other.
     The Black Plague was ravaging the peasants in his neighborhood; he
     once saw men digging their own graves and then lying down to die in
     them. Still, while he occasionally wrote about big subjects like
     hatred and death, he also wrote about the most ordinary things,
     like his gardening or the way radishes affected his digestion. He
     wrote about sadness, idleness, liars, fear, smell, prayer,
     cannibals, and thumbs, among other things.
     Michel de Montaigne wrote, "The most certain sign of wisdom is
     cheerfulness."

   Many modern bloggers follow the same model, offering personal
   observations on faith, politics (modern cannibalism) and people
   digging their own graves, mixed with gardening tips and cat-blogging,
   which de Montaigne also invented: "When I play with my cat, who knows
   whether she isn't amusing herself with me more than I am with her?"

References

   1. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/michelde.htm
   2. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/