How do you explain blogging to those who don't blog?

I will be at the UK parenting blogger conference Cybermummy this weekend.
It's kind of a big deal.
I'm being sent there courtesy of the wonderful people at Lego. Hyundai are supplying a car/Blogger Bus to get me there and I'm going to spend a weekend with some people I've grown very fond of over the time I've been writing my blog.

But how do you explain that to those who don't blog? To my mother in law who, lovely as she is, just gives me a totally blank expression when I try to spell it out for her.
Take my husband for example. He calls it 'that thing you do'. Until the day we were offered a family holiday to Portaventura or the time I got to take my son to Disneyland Paris. Then he suddenly started to take interest.

But to your average Joe, blogging remains a mystery. I'm not talking about those who use blogging as part of their job. That's kind of easy to explain. I mean the 'hobby bloggers' the ones who use this platform as a sort of therapy. They mix with other bloggers in the same or similar boat, they share stories, advice, support - it's like a therapy group only with people you don't know.
Which, when you think about it, sounds really bizarre. I mean what possible appeal could that hold?Personally I blog because I enjoy it as an outlet. It means I get to write down the funny things that happen in our family, or that my children say, or thoughts that are on my mind or great things I want to share.
The fact that people come here and hang around is a massive bonus.

But to those who don't blog, or who have never read a blog, it must seem like the strangest way to spend your time. And a lot of your time.

So I ask the question: How do you explain blogging to those who don't blog?

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