Spurious Transmissions

Welcome to my blog! This is my first venture into the Blagosphere and I have been thinking hard lately about what to name it.  It seems to me that the name of a blog is one of the most important things about the blog itself.

I closely considered my (now) fellow bloggers out in the world and asked myself, “What criteria should a blogger take into account when naming his or her blog?”  Like the title of any good book, the name of a blog should convey meaning about the subjects or issues that it will address.  A good book or blog title could be the name of a protagonist, or a setting in which the book or blog takes place.  It could be a metaphorical allusion to key themes, or a symbolic description of the main idea.

Having defined what I thought to be a virtuous blog-naming dogma, I then asked myself, “What will I write about?  When will I write?  What will be the scope of this blog?”

The first answer that came to mind was that I will probably not have time to write very often.  Of course, that begs the question, “How often is often?“  I also considered that the scope of my blog will probably be very broad: I have no idea what to write about!  I am 24 years old and most of my inspiration to write comes from my everyday experiences, both good and bad.  I have a B.A. in English and I don’t read as much as I should, and I’m hoping this blog will inspire me.

So, having concluded that I will post new blogs occasionally at best, on topics that will vary from politics to wilderness emergency medicine, I now need a title that will convey my thematic tendencies, right?

The first idea that popped into my head, for God knows what reason, was Spurious Emissions. Spurious Emissions are radio emissions “on a frequency or frequencies which are outside the necessary bandwidth and the level of which may be reduced without affecting the corresponding transmission of information”  (I learned this term studying for my HAM Radio license test, call sign: KI6RKL, although I never talk on my radio).  In other words, spurious emissions are undesirable electromagnetic emissions that interfere with a message being transmitted over radio waves.  Although the name sounds cool, this does not fit my newly formed description of my blog!

However, being an English major and considerably obsessive compulsive, I had to dissect the term a little more to make sure it didn’t fit, mostly because I really liked the sound of it: Spurious Emissions. I found out that the word Emit means “to give forth or release.”  I’m not quite sure if I am giving anything through my blog, and I sure as heck am not releasing anything.  I decided to try Transmit: “to dispatch, convey; to communicate.”  This seemed much more appropriate and consistent with my goals, which have yet to be defined.  At least “to communicate” is a vague-enough purpose on which to start.

So, I considered using Spurious Transmissions for my blog title.

Blogging is a process of writing (duh!?).  But really, a good blog doesn’t just address an entertaining topic.  The way in which a topic is discussed or communicated is as important as the topic itself.  Great writers make bland subject matter seem interesting.  They are able attract readers that may not necessarily be interested in a certain topic, but that feel some sort of connection to the writer’s method and style.

I miss terribly (never though I would say this) the days I spent in college exploring each and every dark corner of a particular paper.  There is nothing more satisfying than being understood.  Getting an “A” on a paper meant my communication was received and my ideas were understood, even if the topic was bland.  Writing effectively is a process of identifying your Spurious Transmissions, those transmissions outside the necessary bandwidth of communication.   Good writing requires you to tune your frequency according to the audience, in order to be heard as loud and as clear as possible.

So, for now I’ll stick with Spurious Transmissions.  I may tune my frequency later though.

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