What the Hell am I Doing?

People have been suggesting for years that I write a blog.  I don't know why I resisted exactly.  Maybe I just thought that nobody would be interested in reading what I had to say.  But a dear, dear friend of mine basically gave me a deadline to start this.  Since I value this friend's advice, I thought... why the hell not?

I write.  It's how I express myself.  I truly believe that anyone who does anything creative does so primarily for their own amusement.  Sharing it with other people in the hopes that our creations find and/or develop an audience requires a certain amount of courage.  But it also takes a certain amount of arrogance to think that what we create might, or even does, matter to others.  I'll try my best to keep that part of my personality to a minimum--unless I'm watching "Jeopardy!", in which case, all bets are off.

I've been assembling essays, poems, random thoughts, etc., over many years in the hopes of putting together a book.  I assume that I'll be putting many of them in this blog just to get them out there.  In the meantime, I'll just give you a few facts about me, some of which may seem random, but, hey, that's just how I roll.

In addition to writing, I like to announce and do voice-over work.  I haven't done much professionally at this point, but hope springs eternal.  I am the announcer for the South Bend Roller Girls, the local women's roller derby team(s).  I keep hoping that sometime someone in attendance who works for a radio station or something likes what they hear and decides to hire me for more money than I currently make and gives me the chance to do it for a living.

I'm a popular culture junkie.  I devour music, film, television, and literature... which is probably what sparked my interest in writing in the first place.

I prefer Coke to Pepsi, the Stones to the Beatles, and stick shifts to automatic transmissions.  My favourite cereal is Grape-Nuts, my favourite colour is blue, my favourite ice cream is butter pecan, and I have a fondness for expensive single malt Scotch whisky.

I pride myself on my eclectic tastes.  While I prefer the Stones to the Beatles, my favourite album of all time is the Beatles' 1969 masterpiece Abbey Road.  Not surprisingly, my favourite guitarist is Keith Richards, my favourite drummer is Charlie Watts... but my favourite singer?  Otis Redding (no offense, Mick).

And yes, I prefer to use English spellings on words like "favourite," "colour," and "neighbourhood."  I do this primarily to be ornery.

I'm sure I'll be delving into these things as this blog progresses, but time constraints require me to sign off here for now.  The arrogant part of me hopes you enjoy what you will read in the future (or even what you've just read).  Until we meet again...