I Like Getting Email 

For some reason, after writing this, I seem to be getting more mass emails from various groups than I did before. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut, and maybe I shouldn't. On the one hand, I suppose it means I'm becoming more popular, and that people are thinking to add me to their mass email list. This of course is a very nice ego stroke. On the other hand, mass emails, even if not advertising the latest penis growth formula, still feel like spam to me. I always end up replying asking to be taken off their list.

Maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot by doing that. People may very well look at that and say, screw that guy. In fact, one person has already replied as if I was the rude one, because I politely asked to be removed from a list I never asked to be on in the first place. But as I look at the type of blogger that I am, I have come to realize one important thing. I'm not Instapundit. I don't want to be Instapundit, though I wouldn't mind his traffic. I'm not a public utility that repeats pre-manufactured posts, or simply links to someone else and says, go read this.

I blog on topics that interest me, not someone else. I blog on things where I have something I want to say. More importantly, I am the type of person who likes to engage in a dialog with people. At work, when I have a question to ask someone, I'm much more likely to walk over to their cube, sit on the edge of their desk, and have a real conversation with them. A lot of other people will simply IM or email. Being part of a mass email list is not a conversation. It feels as if something is being shoved down my throat.

So with all that said... if you'd like to email me (my address is in the sidebar to your right), then I'd love to hear from you. If there is something that you think I would enjoy blogging about, please feel free to forward it to me. But if you have something you want to send to "My list of Wisconsin/Conservative/Libertarian/Semi-Popular Bloggers", don't bother. Nothing will get your email deleted faster than not including my name somewhere in the body of the message. Then again, starting your email with "Hi Nick" will get it read very carefully, and most likely get you a response some time soon.

Talk to me... not a mailing list.