The first step is always the hardest.

This one will ramble, I'm sure, but here goes nuthin'.

Yankee fans, uber-Christians, gun nuts, and republicans won't like it here. I'll be voicing my opinions on many topics, including many not listed in the sidebar. I'll be digging through my past scribblings, as well as various past internet discussion group posts, and may repost some here. I'll be bouncing back and forth between the past, present, and future. It's hard to say exactly what the whole point and purpose of this blog is, or what the format of what I do write will take. Personal diary? Song lyrics? Short stories and essays? Rants and Raves? (Sort of like craigslist, except that I call the shots here.) Whatever, it will be a work in progress.

It has been a long, strange trip. I emphasize strange, and I think my therapist will agree. There have been many joyous moments in my life, and I will try to recall as many as possible. There has also been much, much, pain as well. Again, I will be recalling as many incidents as I can, or at least be willing to recall and write of.

My life has taken an incredible turn in the past year, one of several, but this one was a hairpin. This direction was totally unthinkable when I was younger. This turn of events has given me the opportunity to be able to write, to think, to read, and to write. It will evolve, as life, culture, and civilization all do. Remember~ when life gives you a bowl full of lemons......

If not for The String Cheese Incident, The Grateful Dead (without whom, there would be no SCI), the NorCal_ETree discussion group*, The Red Sox, tribe.net, Matt O'Donnell and his "Fenway West" blog, this blog might not be. Many thanks to my parents for providing me with a half decent education and the ability to write coherently. (Now only if I had done my part of the education process, intead of.... Well, that's another post.)

Other folks huge in my life: my brothers Carlos, Paul, and Jay; Jim Savage, Dean Lopes, Bill Medieros, Joe Caron, Suzette Devol, chris dempsey, Christopher Robin, the Allman Brothers Band, Pink Floyd, the Squire James Band, Mark Gigliotti, Sean Horton, and Tom Dibell. Thanks to all, and to all I have inadvertently omitted, (and no thanks to some not mentioned, yet.)

And lastly, but probably most importantly, I must mention my daughter, Sierra. Parenthood is a tremendous challenge, one at which many fail. Circumstances as they may be, we are going through a difficult period, but I would not trade away one second of parenthood for anything. I read somewhere something to the effect of 'a good parent is one whose child will make the world a better place fifty years from now.' I like to think that I was one of those 'good parents.' Parenthood, as difficult as it may be, is what kept me from jumping off the proverbial bridge.

There are plenty of teases in this post, but rest assured, I will be adressing all those ambigous references I made somewhere down the line. Stay tuned.

*I am not going to mention the portal where this group is located. If you want to know, write me. Otherwise, they have the money for the product placement.

Let the postings begin.