Why is this all here?

I got my first blog nine years ago. I went to the blog store, looked at all of the cute, ‘lil blogs, and chose one to take home with me. I called it “Snotting Black.” It’s still up on Wordpress. So, have fun Googling that.

I stuck with it, nearly daily, for something between two and four years. Doesn’t seem that long now, but when I was looking for jobs it was one of my greatest accomplishments: the proven ability to scream into the void until the void answers back or at least likes your posts on Facebook.

When I started, I was in Egypt, right after Mubarak was overthrown. I was just along for the ride, documenting things as a colonialist child might, learning Arabic for the heck of it.

Blogging was fun back then. I didn’t have a topic for the blog. I certainly wasn’t trying to help anyone solve their problems. I wrote because I loved it and a few people said my posts made them laugh.

It’s been a while, and the world seems considerably darker now, but I’m back (for now, at least, for this post, at least).

Some things have changed. I’m much, much older. I think I have a wrinkle. I’m involved with someone that may turn out to be a life partner. I’m writing on a website that I kinda sorta built myself and deployed. I live in Chicago. And the world is clearly ending.

But some things have not changed. I still do not care about building a following, a brand, an email list, or a platform. I never cared about that crap, until professional bloggers came around and ruined it for everyone by saying there was a way you could get rich blogging!

My goal here is simple: I am hoping that in some small way, I could write something that might bring a smile to that adorable face you once had as a child (not the horrible adult face you currently have, unless you’re currently a child and have nothing better to do than read this dumb blog), and maybe make you think about some things that I’ve been thinking about.

I’m excited you’re here for the journey. I’ll try to show up too.

P.S. I’m writing this all in Markdown (look it up if you don’t know what it is), so there will be minimal formatting for a while. YAY.