#1: Introduction May 13, 2019

Okay, it’s time to do this—write my first post for my new Blog.  Now, …how do I begin? 

Shall I start with the standard “Welcome to My Blog” tagline?  Nope, that’s too candy corn trite. 

Do I tell about myself?  Nope, if you’re reading this, you’ve already had the opportunity to read my “About Page.”  If you’ve read it, then you now have all the background information you need.  If you skipped reading it, then you aren’t interested in knowing me anyway.  Giving you additional insight into this website is similarly superfluous. 

Instead I’ll start by telling you what to expect to find within my blog. 

Honestly, you can expect to find just about everything herein at some point in time.  I believe most of my posts will be related to my travels and teaching experiences. 

Travel tales, classroom kudos and woes will be autobiographical, liberally embellished.  It’s up to you to distill fact from fiction.  Nevertheless, I can tell you the stranger it seems, the truer it probably is.  Not even I have the imagination to invent some of the things that occurred in my life.  To exemplify, how many people do you know who were struck in the head by lightening twice?

Some postings are advice for teachers; those will be few and far between.  After all, teaching is a gifted art, not a science.  Sure, all teachers steal from others while developing the craft, but the style of each is ultimately his own. The students are the first to recognize the true artist from the guy collecting a paycheck.  That said, even non-educators should find my advice interesting, for we all once upon a time were or still are seated in a classroom.

Travel tales will be many and frequently based on my sojourns.  I have no idea what these might cover; it could be anything.  Believe me, I do have tales to tell.  For propriety, I keep the names of nations and characters ambiguous.  I do not want to insult or embarrass any of my worldwide friends.  Still, these are good stories to share. 

What you can expect are a lot of stories about fine friends and our adventures together.  If you are a traveler or want to be, you will likely appreciate these.

Regardless, most posts are meant to amuse and entertain, any lessons learned will likely come more from your life than from mine.

Beyond that, I love cooking, thus you will find recipes on occasion—Cajun/Creole mostly but influenced by my personal tastes and tips I’ve picked up overseas.  For example, my smoked salmon combines Western traditional, South African, and Chinese flavorings.  The salmon is unique, the best you will ever eat.

Gardening is another passion, shared with past notables Edgar A, Poe and Isaac Newton.  I suspect that plant posts will be seasonal, dependent upon how does my garden grow.  Accompanying these may be composting and re-purposing tips.

I’m also a word nerd and a trivia-phile.   I’ll probably include some snippet with each article.  We’ll give it a try at the end of this one.

Succinctly, I’ve had a weird life and am possessed by an equally askew imagination, giving me tales to tell aplenty.  Therefore, because I’m bored and enjoy writing, I will be updating these articles often.  I expect sometimes they will change daily, sometimes weekly.  Frequency of new posts depend upon three things:  my Muse, my boredom, and your interest in them. 

Besides, as all writers and writing teachers know, there are only three rules for wannabe authors.

1. Write and write often
2. Write what you know
3. There are no other rules

Yes, I agree, that’s only two.  But we say this because things naturally seem to go better in threes—outside of couples and cuff links.

Also, as with any writer who’s been read, some of these may tickle your fancy, others may have you shaking your head, and some may bore you.  Sorry, … even Will the Thrill Shakespeare has some sonnets that are real stinkers.  Regardless, feel free to assimilate anything you’d like to share freely as your own among friends and enemies.  With the Internet, once I hit send, it instantly becomes public domain regardless.  My resistance is futile, so help yourself.

And do not hesitate to leave comments.

To conclude, “Welcome to My Blog.”

PS (Post Snippet)—We have margins on writing paper today because all writing was once done by hand, expensive and pragmatically irreplaceable.  Then, as even the noblest homes were infested with vermin, paper munching insects and rodents, the wealthy book owners did not want their written words and illustrations damaged.  As a result, any work was kept away from the vulnerable edges, placed more toward the center.  Margins were born and still with us to this day.  Besides, I think it just looks better.