KISS

If you saw the title of this blog and thought I'd be dishing the dirt in D.C., you're wrong. The points of this blog are to keep my writing skills sharp, put all of the things I e-mail to my family and friends in one place and to add a hint of validity to the conception that I'm hip.

That said, most of what you'll find here is the detritus that I sweep up in each news cycle. It's the news junk that has no real relevance to your life but you (and I) enjoy reading anyway. And expect obituaries. I love a good obituary.

I intend for this post to be one of the longest because I'm a busy many with just enough time on my hands to share some interesting, humorous and touching pieces of the Internet.

As a shout out to myself, I'd like to relate the following story:

I was blogging when I got to high school -- before it was cool and before it was called blogging. The writing was sloppy and useless to anyone but myself. It was more an exercise in socializing. Some of my friends liked it, but really they were more impressed that I knew enough HTML to get a colorful and well put together online diary going.

Back then I thought I could write fiction. I couldn't then and can't now. I'm way to technical a writer to enjoy the freedom of fiction. I shared some of my work with my homeroom teacher thinking she might recognize my talent and help me move forward. Instead she yelled at me about how my writing was inappropriate and how one of my stories somehow related to the writing of the Columbine shooters.

For the record, IT DIDN'T. Not by a long shot, according to an informal poll of my peers. You send a kid to a private school where he reads Chaucer and Poe, you're going to get something a little raunchy or dark. Screw her; she should have been a math teacher and everybody knew it.

Enjoy.