What's a blog?

Less than a year ago I remember reading in Newsweek something about blogs they recommended, and I thought, "What's a blog?" Well, I finally found out that it's a weblog but then wondered, "What's the point? Who really sits around reading other people's blogs? And who thinks their life is important enough that other people will read their musings and misadventures?"

But I find myself reading my good friend Amy's blog quite often. I look forward to her learning about her latest trips and how much fun moving isn't. Today I even clicked on some of her links and started reading the blog of one of her friends, a girl I've met a few times but don't really know on any intimate basis. And then it started to click. Who reads blogs? I do. Whose life is worth reading about? Everyones, maybe even mine.

So, with a fear of commitment, I begin my first blog entry (if that's what it's even called.) Will I really be able to keep up with it? What if I quit? I'm already afraid of my writing not being good enough, of my topics being boring, but most of all, of it becoming something that will creep onto my to-do list. And I do not need anything more on that list of endless tasks. But I'm willing to take the oh-so-mighty risk of beginning to blog.

Can blog be used as a verb? Maybe I'm not ready. I don't even know how to use the word.