First Post! (in which we decide: why do this? or just shrug our shoulders and do it anyway.)

So, why blog?

Well, there is the tedious midlife crisis factor (woe is me!).
There’s the vanity factor (listen to me!).
And the popular culture factor (everybody’s doin’ it!)

I like to think though, that if those were the only things in play, I’d resist.

The “why” really boils down to this: I miss general chit-chat with friends and acquaintances. People who used to be my closest companions now live far and wide and it’s impossible to be in touch as much as we’d like, no matter what our intentions. Our busy daily lives – jobs, spouses, children, campaigns, communities, extended families, all that – are our first priorities, and rightly so. Also, having left what’s thought of (often without a trace of irony!) as the “working world” to rear children, I’m without office banter.

So, who do you shoot the breeze with any more, especially if your work doesn’t involve regular interactions with other adults? Work-at-home gigs can be isolating and a bit lonesome.

Online community forums can be great… or they can be overrun by people using anonymity as license to be rude or mean. Online, topic-centered forums are really great, but to join them and then chat about everything but the subject at hand can be intrusive and disrespectful.

So. Enter the blog. Let’s give it a bid. Friends old and new are invited to comment on and discuss whatever comes up here. Differences of opinion, respectfully expressed, are heartily encouraged. Rudeness and insults won’t see the light of day.

And if this blog’s title reminds you at all of a favorite episode of Star Trek -- cool.