Guess Tim Cavanaugh doesn't much care for blogs, or at least for most bloggers. Whatever. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll repeat what I said in my first entry: I'm doing this for fun, for the exercise of regular writing, for the sheer ego of seeing my words in print, and for the occasional thrill of feedback from a reader whom I don't already know.

Ultimately, if no one besides my wife and parents read this, I'll still consider it to be time well spent. It's helped me clarify my own thoughts, helped me to understand certain issues better, and absolutely exposed me to a much wider range of opinions than before. I've also connected with some local folks. All this in less than three weeks.

I do agree that some bloggers have an overinflated sense of their own importance in the world. But so what? So do a lot of folks who do get paid for what they write. I have no illusions that my words will change the world. I have a hard enough time keeping my dog from eating the mail.

So I don't really care what Tim Cavanaugh thinks of me. He didn't quote or mention me in his piece anyway. I'm doing this for my own reasons.

Some people were not terribly bothered by Cavanaugh's piece. Others really let him have it. By the way, I think the ironic thing is that I'd have never heard of Tim Cavanaugh or OJR or this particular article had it not been for bloggers, and I won't be the least bit surprised if that's true for a fair number of other folks who hit that page. Hey, Tim, how many times does your referral log have to show a blog as point of origin before you rethink your assessment?

One last thing: If blogging is such a silly little hobby that no one who isn't a blogger cares about, then why would such a Serious Jounalist as yourself spend so much time and effort taking it down?