About 9

A lot of things have changed in my life since I started this blog almost two years ago. Some of the changes were for the better, and others, not so much. So I thought it was time, with a little encouragement from my fiancée (one of the good changes), to update the About 9 section.

As for how I got into writing in the first place, this part is virtually unchanged from my original About 9 entry. I took a journalism class in Stuyvesant High School and got hooked. Then, as I moved up through NYU and into the professional world, I ended up doing far more editing than writing, partially because I happen to be good at it, and partially because I realized that when you’re always the last person to find out about something happening, it doesn’t exactly bode well for a career as a reporter (unless you want to be a sportswriter for The New York Times).

After several years of cursing myself for not doing any writing on my own, always using the excuse that I was too burned out from work, I finally decided to do something about it, so I started this blog. I originally started a blog on MySpace, but quickly discovered that MySpace sucks and moved it to WordPress.

My goal with this blog is primarily to have fun, but also to let off a little steam. Venting is good for the soul. Not every post will be a vent, but a healthy portion of them likely will turn out that way.

As I said to some of my good friends at our beach house in LBI a couple of summers ago: I’m not cranky … I’m critically observant!

As for the changes, the beach house is quite prominent in some of them, both good and bad. The good: I met my fiancée there, and I couldn’t be happier. The bad: We weren’t part of the beach house this past summer for a number of reasons, chief among them the fact that I was laid off in October 2008, after 13 ½ years with my old company. I’ve managed to land two part-time jobs, but have yet to find a full-time position. On that note, if anyone knows anyone who’s looking for a stellar copy editor and/or someone with experience writing, editing and blogging for print or the Internet (preferably the latter, but beggars can’t be choosers), you know where to find me.

The best change, however, took place in Newport, R.I., Aug. 1, and you can read about it here.

My Thank You section is stolen from the liner notes on albums and CDs, which have become completely obsolete with the advent of iTunes and other, not-so-legal methods of acquiring music, but I’m old-school.

Thank you to:

My fiancée for being the greatest thing that ever happened to me;

My friends, for being very high on that same list;

Our three cats – Trouble, 8-Ball and Skittles – for being constant sources of amusement and staying off the keyboard while I type (for the most part, anyway);

My CD collection and iTunes for keeping me company while I write for fun and profit;

Guinness, Jack Daniel’s, wine, The Shannon and Zeppelin Hall Beer Garden for attitude adjustment;

The 2009 New York Yankees, for an outstanding season;

And anyone who reads this blog, for helping me believe it’s worth doing.

Cheers!

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