I’ve been a reader of Michael Earls’ blog Cerebral Kitchen for a long time.  And today, when I opened up the aggregator, I thought he went nuts all of a sudden.  Then a couple entries later, all is revealed.

Those of us with personal blogs should not be afraid to express who we truly are, unless who we truly are is deathly afraid of what others will think.  I’ve been known to go on a rant here and there, I rarely mind my language, that’s who I am.  Just because you are a programmer, and your blog is primarily about programming, doesn’t mean you have to be that guy all the time.  That’s why I read guys like Bill, Andy, CausticPhil when he was around, and most of the other blogs I read, because they’re real people.  I get a lot of great technical content out of the tech blogs I read, but I get a lot of great life content out of them too, conversation starters and debates and human stories.  If I wanted straight code all the time I got bookshelves full of books and a barnes & noble down the street.  I don’t need that from blogs.  And I try to provide the same value to my readers as well.

I can understand maybe you have to mind what you say if you are a Microsoft blogger on blogs.msdn.com but if you have your own blog that you pay for in your own name with your own branding (hey…like this one) then you can post whatever you damn well please and anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck right off IMNSHO.

Yes, the recruiting types like Heather (not a jab…Heather is awesome!) will say that your blog is a part of your identity, and that anyone who looks you up on the internet, maybe a recruiter or potential employer, will have all that you have written available at the click of a mouse.  That is 100% true.  I 100% don’t care.  If I were ever to be denied a job because of my blog I would a) have a ready made lawsuit and 2) not want to work there anyway.  My blog is an extension of my personality, and that personality is present in the office as well.  No, I’m not an unprofessional ass at all times, I adapt to the situation at hand, but by and large, I am who I am and this blog reflects that.  Yours should too.  You should feel no shame or guilt about saying what you really think in your blog, but you should also feel no shame or guilt about it in real life either.

Don’t make your blog the only place where you say what you want, or you are leading an incomplete life, constraining yourself far too much.  Also, it makes you a chickenshit.  Just go ahead and be who you are, online and off, and you will be much happier.

So Michael, if you are reading this, I just wanted to say I’ll still be a reader, and I’m glad you’ve decided to open up more.  I also will continue watching porn, your advice notwithstanding, because I’m divorced, and <insert snide ex-wife comment here>.  And speaking of oink oink squeeeeaaaal! check out what Foo posted today!