what does blogging do for you?

i was laying out by the pool today with my favorite 70+ year old neighbor who was reading her NYT as we talked. she brought up the topic of blogging and she couldn't understand why people just want to lay it all out there on the internet for any and everyone to read. she also couldn't understand why other people are so interested in reading about ordinary people's lives in their blogs. without telling her that i actually have a blog of my own (i have no idea why i feel it necessary to withhold this information, other than the fact that she'll probably want to come read it!), i tried to come up with reasons for why people blog. so that made me get a little introspective, wondering what my true motivations are behind the blogging. and then i wondered about other people. so i'll pose her questions for you guys: why do you blog and why do you read other people's blogs?