Le Petit Outré Is a Missoula baking institution seeped in French tradition, and as I discovered this morning- the perfect place to watch European bike racing. The Giro d’Italia is on and it is pouring rain in Missoula today. The decor is sparse- no tables, no internet- just a large computer monitor propped up against a 6 ton brick oven. The croissants however, are unbeatable, and the espresso is Vivace from Seattle (one of my favorite roasters). At first, I was tempted to post a witty update on Facebook- but have noticed lately that I’m on that site too much, and not for the right reasons.

More blog, less Facebook. More reading, less skimming.  Why blog?  Why not Facebook? While I do love to hate Facebook, it serves a purpose in my life, and ultimately does help me feel more connected to many people that I care about but who are not in my immediate geography.  If you look at my Facebook page, you might start to understand some of who I am.  If you read this blog, you actually know who I am pretty damn well (granted, only because I choose to share more here).  I won’t pretend either blogging or Facebook can replace real human interaction, but it gets me thinking about what place these tools have in our lives.  What good is “a social network” or “user generated content?”  Why bother, why waste all the time?

I aspire to read more blogs, from my friends, from my heros, because they inspire me.  Even if I can’t have a conversation with these people, the transparency with which they share their lives, and the honest work with which they pursue their goals enriches my life, and encourages me to do the same.  Somehow, you don’t get that in a status update, the quality doesn’t come through.  As a result, I’ll be putting more effort into the blog, and hopefully spending a little less time on Facebook.

“Dedicated hard work yields honest worthwhile rewards.”