A license to rant…

Wow…a bonafide license to rant. Heh…like I needed THAT.

The picture on it sucks though. It doesn't look anything like me. And no expiration date! You are so screwed...

My very own blog. Have I built the anticipation enough, yet? Waiting through almost a year of constant nag…er…encouragement, I mean;) I know you'll all be patient with me as I learn the ways of the blogger. And all goofing aside, I really do appreciate that.

Still not sure what I’ll do with this thing. The places it will take me (and you) are a complete mystery. I’m okay with that…but I hope you’ve taken your Dramamine…and you may want to get a seat by the door…or at least buckle up…as it’s bound to be a long, bumpy ride…with more than a few sharp left turns... The tickets are cheap, though, so bring the whole family and make a day of it.


As a 40-something (ugh!), working, divorced mom of three, in a new relationship with a wonderful man, and being so busy I don’t have TIME to do anything noteworthy, it’s difficult to imagine what I’d have to write about…but it will hit me or it won’t. Here…you guinea pigs...have some lettuce. I may need you to stick around a while...

Not sure how often I’ll update, but if you’ll play along, I will, too. And until the pain becomes unbearable, we all may have a little fun. (Most likely at my expense.) Now come on…let's boogie...it’s time for the very first ORAL REPORT…


All my heroes are bloggers…

Okay, maybe hero is a little strong. I’ve always found myself attracted to, drawn to, impressed by, articulate, intelligent, humorous people. So, my heroes may be a little unconventional..by the widely-accepted definition of the word, but I don’t know any real life slayers. Over the past few years, I’ve run across…not literally, you understand…a great many folks out there on the ether, expressing themselves with great passion about any number of topics and I find that intoxicating. And as I have befriended many of these people, I've come to discover that the social barricades people tend to erect in a face to face situation completely disappear in this context. It's positively refreshing. I'm not foolish enough to believe everything I read. But, I delight in the possibilities.

Add to that the fact that it's getting to the point where EVERYone I know has a blog...including my two teenaged daughters! I find myself, once again, dragged kicking and screaming into the next technological age. Pretty old fashioned sometimes. (Never thought I’d have a DVD player…now we have THREE.)

Bloggers are cool. They're smart and sassy. They're the renegades of the information age. And when they're raging against the machine...I get all flush and weak in the knees. Luckily, I'm usually already sitting down at that point.

Back in the day, when I was passionate (to the point of pig-headedness) about quite a few things (you’ll all be glad to know that that particular list has dwindled dramatically…else I’d be using this virtual soapbox in a far less entertaining way), I wanted to change the world. Not that I had a plan or any cool sci-fi equipment to actually do it. I suppose it must have been the latent hippie in me. Osmosis from my REAL birth-parents, surely. Birth-parents…heh…that’s fodder for another entry…allow me to let that one lie…for now.

Anywho…as I was saying…blogs intrigue me. Once upon a time, I was majoring in sociology in college. Leaning towards a career in research. Studying people. That, to me, sounded like the ultimate job. Natural curiosities would be tended to. Plus, you know, the whole save the world thing (from the inside out), too. Kewl…

It was long before the internet. LONG before the internet. Gads, I’m ancient. But, had it been around then, my entire course-study would have been vastly different, I’m sure. In fact, I never got my degree and have often thought of going back and finishing it. (Actually, put a few more credits on the tally several years back, but the demands of motherhood reared their...well... demanding heads!) But, I’d imagine, if I walked on campus…using my aluminum walker now, of course…once the 18 year old chick in the registrar’s office quit laughing at the old broad with the walker trying to sign up for classes…they’d calmly explain to me that due to the technological updates in the last 25 years, I’d be starting over from scratch. That’s depressing… Thinking about all the cool new tools to study human behavior, and me forced to be an uncertified rogue sociologist to use them.

The internet continues to give me the fix I need when I want to study the human animal, though. Primarily, with the invaluable help of bloggers. Oh, news and weird links are always an interesting distraction to me…I’m entirely too easily amused sometimes…but the bloggers are like the fix I need. People letting you into their lives. So eagerly. So unashamed.

I love the topical blogs, especially the political ones...lefty, of course! But, the blogs that are just regular people. Talking about their regular lives. The ups and downs of just making it through a day. It's like peeking through their windows...without the fear of the nightstick cracking you in the back of the head. Not that I know what that feels like...

Sometimes, I pick up a tip or two. An idea that I can use. But even when I don't, I feed on the motivations people have for doing what they do. I find it fascinating. I don't have to agree. I don't even have to comment. There are times, as there was recently, I am so moved...so connected...with what some complete stranger is going through, that I feel compelled to cheer them on, or warn them. In the last few days, at a blog I'd lurked at for months, I posted a comment to a woman who was dealing with the emotions of a very recent break-up of a long-term marriage. I felt I had some insight that I could share and I wished her the strength and courage of her convictions. She told me I had made her day. And that was nice. I don't need that. At least I don't think I do. But, I suppose in setting up my own blog, I'm looking for a little of it.

In any event, I think people who open themselves up to the world...baring their souls for the likes of me...are a brave lot. A heroic lot. And I'm pleased to join the ranks...even if I'm about a year late doing it. There are reluctant heroes, right? I mean, not just the fictional ones...