Why is 100 Bloggers important?
This project is important for several reasons:

1. A new generation needs mentoring. Every day, horny young people find the Web and discover that their vague fantasies of leather are realized in a million ways in a million webpages. Blogging records the real lives of real leathermen so that those young leatherfolk can find out what it's really like to be a leatherperson. Think of it this way: someone, sometime, somewhere helped you. Now it's your turn. And all it takes is for you to talk about your life.

2. Our history needs to be recorded. The Archives is doing all it can, but it doesn't have the resources to conduct massive oral histories. Blogs are a way for us to record our lives for posterity. It's a way (literally) to make history.

3. No one should feel alone. I imagine it's happened to all of us at some time or another: you imagine that NO ONE could be feeling the way you feel, desiring the things you desire, experiencing the things you experience. That sense of isolation is antithetical to the very concept of community. In creating blogs, we leave behind places and spaces for others to come along and see themselves and realize they're NOT alone.

4. The community is changing. Bars are dying. New York City, one of the country's largest leather communities, currently has no leather bar to speak of. The places where we once gather are increasingly virtual. Blogging encourages community. In the larger world of blogging, called the "blogosphere," this sense of community is palpitant. Blogs link to other blogs. Posts respond to the posts in other blogs. Blogs are one way for us to formalize the changing leather community while keeping it a community.

Why should I blog?
But this more than just a good deed. Blogging can be useful to you:

• Blogging is therapeutic. There's something about writing out whatever is going on in your life that helps you think through your current state of affairs. There's something about putting your thoughts into words that simultaneously puts them into perspective.

• Blogs can help you keep in touch with your friends. Instead of sending out a zillion emails about what's going on in your life, your friends can just drop in on your blog. Because blogging tools archive all your entries, they can read up on what you've doing not just in the past few days, but also in the past few months/years.

• Blogs can help you meet new people. Sending a potential partner to your blog can give them a peek at the "real" you. People who stumble across your blog can contact you, and new friendships (and more?) can emerge.

• YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER. The biggest reason to blog is because you have something to offer, even though you may not think you do. You're a part of this community, and your thoughts, experiences, insights, and feelings are not just valid but valuable. Even if you DON'T see yourself as part of the leather "community" you should blog, because that's just as good a reason to speak your mind, if not more so.

Why are all my excuses useless?
I'm sure you have all kinds of reasons why you shouldn't start a blog. Here are some possible excuses and my response to them:

• I don't have the technical knowledge to start a blog. Blogger, the recommended tool of 100 Bloggers, is WAY user friendly. If you can use a browser (and you can, because you're reading this) you can start a blog. It's easy as pie.

• I can't afford a blog. Blogger is free. Not only is the service free, but Blogger offers free webhosting for your blog through blogspot. There is no cost involved at all.

• I don't have time to blog. If you have time to read this, you have time to blog. In fact, in the time it takes you to go through this entire site you could have started a blog and made your first post. Just think about all the time you're online waiting for someone to chat with, or think about those chats with interminable pauses between responses. Plenty of time to fire off a good post.

• I'm not a very good writer. So? Blogging is not literature. Blogs are conversational and observational. If you can talk to a friend, if you can send an email, then you can start a blog.

• No one would want to read my blog. Trust me, SOMEONE will be interested in what you have to say, because SOMEWHERE out there in the kink world, SOMEONE is going through EXACTLY what you're going through and when they read your blog, they'll know they're not alone. Even then, don't blog for an audience, blog for yourself.

• But I don't have anything to say about kink. It's nice to think about some top-heavy (Top-heavy? With all these bottoms? LOL) community where there are great and wise leaders dispensing deep insight and wisdom, but it's simply not true. We're all in this together, we all learn what we can, and we should all share what we learn.