I blogged for about 10 and a half years. Then I didn't blog for about 10 and a half years. What did I learn? That I like blogging better than "social media." Call me quaint, but I kinda liked it when the only people on the Internet were the few who went through the trouble of starting their own space. When the only people who took photos were the ones who bothered to buy a camera. When it took a *little* talent to be allowed to display it. Humans have officially proven that almost none of them deserve to have a platform. Should the option be there for everyone? Sure. But people should learn that when they're not good at something or have absolutely nothing to offer in a given field, they should just dis the fuck appear. (Interrupting myself to remind you that you're reading the thoughts of someone who once did a public access cable TV show...) Or, maybe even better, say it but in a place where nobody has to look at it unless they want to. And I never wanted the Internet to come to me, I prefer to go to it. Notifications will kill you. Why does everything you do need to go out to everyone you've ever known? How about messaging just the friends who would care about that moment's bullshit? What's different about me? Well I do think I'm better at providing people with actual content that can't be confined to 162 characters. But even if I were the most interesting person in the world, I wouldn't want to force my crap on people. I want the select few who care about my unique brand of unique-brandiness to find it. Wait, is that what I really want? When I would go on X and say some incredibly groundbreaking thing, wouldn't I want the world to hear it and tell me how awesome it is?? Maybe. But I realized it's more rewarding to take that thought and share it with a friend or two, the ones who'd specifically appreciate it. Doing that feels better than 1,000 strangers hitting the like button and not even commenting. More importantly, it feels better than NOBODY seeing it despite that it went out to, technically, the universe. Blogging to me is the perfect middle ground. Millions could see it, but only my tiny-yet-worldwide network of friends will. The Internet in general is a great thing. I love connecting with people from all over that I couldn't have possibly met 35 years ago. But I like to do it this way. So if you found me, welcome. If you found me again, it's good to see you (italics-free) again. And if you got a notification of this new post somehow, if that exists, and it didn't kill you, you get a gold star. All that to say, in the words of Frank Costanza, I'm back, babeeee! I swore I wouldn't blog again, only that I'd update things on here like my snagged ball list or to fix broken photos, etc. But here I am. More to come..... (if I actually keep this up).