Why? I'm glad you asked...

So, basically, I wanted a blog that was somewhat more private than the one on myspace. What I mean is, I don't want all of my "friends" reading my blog. I feel that less "friends" will read what I put on here, especially if I choose to decide not to post this address up on facebook or myspace. Paranoia + vanity? Me.

I did this also because I did some facebook stalking of an old friend and found their site on this provider... and since it is powered by Google and I already had a Google account, I figured what the hell, it was simple.

The third reason I did this was out of boredom. I was working earlier today and there was a dry spell in customers and I needed something "productive" to do. This is a product of boredom (boredom at work and boredom of life in general).

The title I chose as well as my address includes the phrase "the Cog Life." Some people, when I mention "Cog People" to them, do not understand what I mean. I'm feeling generous, so I'll explain in case you do not understand.

The Cog Life refers to a lifestyle which I want desperately to avoid. Let's define "cog." Dictionary.com says this:

1.	(not in technical use) a gear tooth, formerly esp. one of hardwood or metal, fitted into a slot in a gearwheel of less durable material.

2.	a cogwheel.

3.	a person who plays a minor part in a large organization, activity, etc.: He's just a small cog in the financial department.

–verb (used without object)

4.	(of an electric motor) to move jerkily.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to roll or hammer (an ingot) into a bloom or slab.

—Idiom

6.	slip a cog, to make a blunder; err

"Cog" is a word that instills fear in me. The Cog Life implies uniformity, suits, clopping heels, Starbucks, a white picket fence, "working 9 to 5;" a life, in my opinion, where everyone is so caught up in what s/he is doing in a machine-like manner and pretending he/she loves their job and coffee or just believe s/he does because real passions have been surpressed in the depths of his or her unconsciousness. I do not want to be a cog in the Earth clock. Don't misunderstand me too much, I know that some people prefer the Cog Life; it's stable, it's comforting, it has a schedule of sorts (1... get a job/career. 2... get married. Oh, don't forget to have two kids, one boy and one girl, and a dog and/or cat). That's fine... I enjoy stability in some things, but I don't want time to control my life. (Don't get me started on what I think about time... maybe I'll save that for later).

The Cog Life tried to swallow mine this semester. I was pursuing a major in English Education. Fortunately, I found the courage to withdraw. (I say courage because I was on the brink of graduating and perhaps on the brink of getting out of Statesboro; I do not hate Statesboro, I am just done here, it has done all it can for me... well, except give me a degree. I also say courage because of my father and his expectations and my fear of disappointing my parents.) Moving on, I have changed my major to English (minor in Writing), and I will be continuing classes in the spring. This moves my degree away from me for a semester, which is unfortunate, but I'll make do. Now that I have changed my major, I get remarks (even from a certain family member) such as, "Do you know what you're going to do?" "What do you want to do?" "What the hell are you going to do with that? It's totally useless, you know?" (The last remark was a drunk semi-friend, so we'll take that with a grain of salt and a whole lot of margarita.) My shaky, half-filled with fear but mostly filled with hope and a soaring feeling that I guess can be called a great uncertainty (like not knowing what you're getting for Christmas) answer is "I'm not sure."

That's how I want most of my life to be like. The pleasure of uncertainty but knowing you're going to do something... even if it means having a crappy job just for the means to live yet still pursuing something greater. Not settling for the night shift stocking job at a Wal-Mart, even if you could become manager and work your way up to becoming a bigger and better Cog. So, I figure, as long as I pursue things that I love, I will eventually get the perfect job, maybe a husband, maybe a crazy orange picket fence, all of those things we look to for stability... but without the Cogs.

Hm, don't know if that made sense to anyone out in blogworld, but the important thing is that I get it.

***I would like to credit my friend, Zack, for the phrase "Cog People." It is from him I first heard about Cogs.