Day One

Welcome!

Are you a geek for words? Do you thrill upon entering a bookstore -- all the possibility before you? Do you smell the pages of a new (or old) book and underline sentences that take your breath away?

If so, you're like me, an avowed word lover and avid reader, actress, mad-for-Obama, 30-something gal making her way in the world.

I decided to start a blog exploring words, books, articles, other blogs, basically anything and everything that gets printed on paper or typed on a website. Recommended reading, musings, opinions, rants, thoughtful considerations, dirty jokes -- all can be found on this blog. I encourage comments, suggestions, debate. It's all good.

But first, a word or two about the word "blog". I'm not a fan. Can't we all agree on something better? There is no poetry, no jazz, no style to this word. It sounds like something you cough up in the middle of flu season. Either that, or a euphemism for dog poo. "Oh, gross, Tuffy just took a blog on the carpet". See?

I wanted to use the word "zarf", which is scandalously close to "barf" but is also fun to say. However, zarf is a real word meaning an ornamental holder for a coffee cup. Who knew?

So why, exactly, am I creating my own blog? Aren't there enough self-absorbed people in the world, documenting their every thought, whim, longing, idea, hunger, fart, triumph, invasive medical procedure, prejudice...? Yes. It is with no small amount of shame that I add my voice to the online cacophony. My reasons? In all honesty, it's because I have far too much time on my hands at my temp job. That, and I have strong opinions that need expressing! Aaaand... I have long harbored a secret desire to be a writer. My admiration for and awe of writers knows no bounds. Along with sounding off on books, politics, art, what constitutes a perfect vegetable lasagna and whatever else strikes my fancy, this bl-- is a chance for me to hone my writing skills. My hope is that somewhere along the line the fear of making my written work available for public consumption will lessen. Fingers crossed.

Right. Now I have a blog. So what the hell do I want to say?

p.s. Tuffy was the name of the first dog I ever had. I was four. My brother and sister and I all wanted to choose the name so my mother decided that we should put our suggestions in a hat, etc. My contribution was chosen to the great dismay of my siblings. Looking back, I get it. Sorry Wendy, sorry Mike. In any case, we had to give the dog - a collie - away. Some lovely folks who owned a farm took her. We loved this creature so much that her new owners let us come visit!