A foray into the world of blog.

Hi internet!

This is it. The first post. MY first post. That post that sets an inevitable, undeniable tone for all posts to come. The all-important first stone thrown down the mountainside that creates a single, skipping stone, an avalanche, or anything in between. This particular post will be a little long because I've got a lot to cover at the beginning, but I think the perseverance pays off at the end.

Let's back up a step, then, and discuss why this post is on your computer screen to begin with, shall we?

I currently follow three blogs of some friends I particularly respect. One of them I happened to chat with a few weeks back, mentioning during the conversation that I'd thought about starting a blog as a New Year's resolution because I wanted to write again and my other outlets for writing had fallen off. Her response was "Go for it." The thing that held me back at the time was this: I had no unifying theme.

I also thought I'd constantly forget my blog ideas while away from the computer, ending up with nothing ever typed up - but I digress.

And so my quest for something to unify my blog and thus tie together all the disparate tales of my life I might tell came to be. At first I considered cooking - two of my friends do cooking blogs, after all and it is an interest of mine. However, I decided against it. One reason is that I don't consider myself very good - yet. Even with a yet at the end of that sentence, next to blogs like "The Peripatetic Kitchen" I'd feel like I was writing "The Very Pathetic Kitchen" because I don't have enough cooking experience worth sharing. More importantly, I didn't want to feel bound to write constantly about topics related to food. When all the areas of a person's life are potential content for a book, why limit myself to writing about only those parts which occur in the kitchen?

I next considered video gaming, as it is a bigger hobby of mine than cooking. While I feel games do have a much broader reach, I still felt limited. I also didn't feel up to par in that area either and let's face it: video games get a ton of press coverage anyway to a far greater degree than I would choose. In the end, I decided to leave writing on that subject to its paid professionals.

While I'm sure both those topics will creep into blog posts down the road at least a little bit, what I eventually found myself wanting to do with the blog was bring some positivity, encouragement, or even just a smile into the days of others. I know life gets rough for all of us and we all have our own problems that seem to suck the joy out of everything at times. My gift, my present - my blog - to you is to show you the silver lining I found on the clouds in my day. My hope is that doing so uplifts yours.

Having covered the blog's purpose in true "I told you that story so I could tell this one" fashion, here is this blog's first tale of finding a silver lining.

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I am a fan of the musical group Rockapella. When I was a kid, I used to watch the PBS game show "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" where Rockapella was the house band. They were such a great group with a huge amount of fun energy and I've heard nothing but good things about their live performances. Even though the group's original singing members from the show are now all retired from Rockapella, Scott Leonard and the rest of the current troupe are just as good from the recordings I've heard.

I'd never seen their live show, however, and I found out that the group was coming to George Mason University (GMU) in northern Virginia. It's about three hours drive from where I live and my brother goes to GMU. He was able to get me a ticket, I'd arranged with my dad to borrow his car to make the trip up, and the concert was on a Saturday so time off work wouldn't be a problem. I'd come down with an illness this week, but even that didn't seem an obstacle because I'd seen a doctor, gotten some medication, and would generally be well enough to go through with the trip by Saturday. I was actually going to get to see this group sing live.

Then it snowed Friday night and by Saturday, transportation out of Richmond was impossible. According to the GMU Box Office, the performance went on as scheduled in spite of the weather. I missed it.

But you know, there's a reason I'm a self-described "snow cynic". Snow in Richmond, Virginia has the same frequency as a blue moon or, dare I say, a Rockapella concert coming to town. While it definitely wasn't what I wanted, I still enjoyed the picturesque winter weather and the cozy day inside that I turned yesterday into. Today we had bright and beautiful sun and I, in turn, used the clear day to prepare a crucial addition to this blog post.

The result of my activity? Well, let's just say, I hope it brings a smile to your face. Making it brought a smile to mine.



Day well spent? My answer's yes. What's yours?

That said, I hope this little tale adds a silver lining to your day or at least helps you find the one that's already there. Until next time, dear reader, I leave you with a smile.

It's made of snow!