Hey there! It's been a while...

from album Lonely Avenue Track 1: "A Working Day" 2010
by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby

"Some guy on the net thinks I suck / And he should know / He's got his own blog."
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I think Ben Folds is great.  The Lonely Avenue album is fantastic for many reasons - but mostly because of its unique conception.  So Nick Hornby, author of great works of fiction like High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch, and many others, wrote all of the lyrics.  Then, he sent them off to Ben Folds (of the 90s "Brick" fame) to put them to music.  The listener is left with a quirky but beautiful marriage, with lyrics that catch you off guard and instruments that change the mood of what you think you should be feeling.    

Anyway, this line comes from the first track of the album - talking about artists who must deal with the tension that exists between their draw towards creativity and their fear that they aren't actually contributing anything of worth to society.  Then this line - about being judged by someone else who's only authority on the subject is that he has a blog - lightens everything and demands that the listener crack a smile.

As we know, anyone can have a blog, and anyone can neglect a blog.  I had a lot of fun last spring posting to this blog, but then, you know, life happened.  Summer vacations happened.  Teaching an adjunct class happened.  Family crises happened.  Untold blessings happened.  And despite my busyness over these past six months, I still took time every day to check the dashboard of all of the blogs that I follow.  I still delighted when a friend or mentor would post a nugget giving me a peak into their brains or lives.

Just like the tension that exists in the song, I still am unsure that I have anything interesting to say. Still, I do really enjoy reading ideas from other people in the cyberspace.  So, I think I'll try to get back in the habit of posting something - to continue the blog chain.  And I am sure you will want to read it. After all, I should know.  I've got my own blog.

Peace!