Wailer

When I was in college I wrote a daily e-mail (which eventually turned into a bi-weekly or less e-mail) that I called the Wailer. The name was a spoof of the daily campus news e-mail, the Crier. It was basically my chance to just write whatever I wanted. My distribution list began with about 50 names, and then I only added those who e-mailed me requesting to be added. At its peak, the Wailer was being sent to just over 300 e-mail addresses per day. I had a great time writing it, because it didn't make any difference whether or not anything I said was important, logical, humorous, or even if it made sense (most of it didn't). I think part of the joy of writing the Wailer was that my audience was so abstract to me. I mean, most of the people reading it were my friends, but I wasn't handing them a hard copy and standing there while they read it. I wasn't giving oral presentations of each day's Wailer. I was merely sending out an e-mail to hundreds of people, never really knowing if anyone at all was reading it or laughing at it or getting upset over it. To me, my e-mails were completely isolated from everyone else. It felt like writing a blog. You never know who is reading, and it doesn't make any difference. It's an outlet.