2016 was a difficult year. I don’t know anyone who would disagree with that. For me, it was difficult because my father lost his battle to cancer in May. I struggled with it all year and still am. That grief was bigger than I knew what to do with, and I withdrew from life. My martial arts blogging stopped and visiting friends dropped lower than I liked. Just leaving the house became difficult. Writing, which is something that I love, became too hard, and I stopped for months. I was depressed. To combat the depression, I dove into my martial arts training and reading. All of that helped. Now, 2016 is over, and it’s time to try new ways of dealing with grief. This blog is part of that. The topics will not be about grief or depression. There are better resources out there, and Google is your friend for that. NO, these posts will just be about whatever I feel like.

Me and my Dad before my 2015 wedding.

I enjoy blogging and have many, many interests. This will be a place for me to spout off on whatever I feel like from politics to books to photographs to cats. I’m a fan of John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, and so that will be the type of blog that I hope this will become. It will be me writing about what interests me. Martial arts, however, will be discussed on my other blog, STL Counterpoint. I plan on continuing that blog as well. 2017 will be a year of writing for me because writing makes me happy. It makes me feel as accomplished as a hard workout, a entertaining book, or a great martial arts session. Clearly, this is a vanity project because it’s about me. I’m not selling anything, and there’s no agenda here other than my particular biases and leanings. Read or don’t read, I’m good either way. If you do read, thanks. Say hi or tell me I’m wrong or recommend a good book.

Craft beer with my wife at Exit 6 in Cottleville, MO.

What new thing are you doing this year?