On Being a Schizophrenic Blogger

First let me say that I don't suffer from real schizophrenia. I'm basically referring to the fact that when I blog about politics or current events, I generally approach the topic from one of two directions. Either I blog about the way something ought to be, or I blog about the way something could be.

The idealistic 27 year old personality likes to talk a lot about the way things ought to be. He has delusions of grandeur, and imagines himself being Emperor of the World some day. He's the guy who enjoys reading Calvin and Hobbes, especially when Calvin plays in his sandbox and imagines being God ("But Calvin is no kind and loving god! He's one of the old gods! He demands sacrifice!"). Of course, he would be a much more benevolent ruler than Calvin.

The Engineering personality likes to talk about the way things could be. He understands that idealistic worlds don't exist, and that you have to compromise with people who don't think the way that you do. He knows that when the way things are is very different then the way things ought to be, that it takes time to move from one place to the other, and that sometimes along the way you discover a whole new route to someplace else you never imagined. He's much more like Hobbes in a lot of ways ("There's more to this world than just people, you know.")

Unlike the comic strip, my inner Calvin and Hobbes don't really talk to each other. In some posts I'm Calvin, talking as if government bureaucracy could be easily eliminated with the stroke of a pen... going down the toboggan hill as fast I possibly can. Other times I'm Hobbes, taking a much more measured approach to life, asking "What's at the bottom of this hill?" before I go down. When I'm more like Hobbes, I might even laugh at people who act like Calvin, when I myself have done the same thing, and don't even realize it.

And there you have it. Some personal insights into the type of blogger that I am. So as you read through the thoughts I put here, keep in mind that you're looking at two different people, and they don't usually meet eye to eye, or even know they're looking through the same eyes.