Upon joining a community...

And so, I've started a blog.

Since I started this on Friday, I've been spending some time thinking about what I've done. There are a couple of blogs that I've been following, the Two Cent Bin provides various ammounts of amusement, exploreplay and musings of a wandering mind provide the point of view of a college professor with a wandering mind (I wonder if it would help to keep it one a leash?), and lastly Fearfully Human which shares the life and times of a very unique person. I am just beginning the process of blogging, and I have yet much to learn from other bloggers. There are many blogs that I have yet to discover, but I'm sure that there is time for that.

But once more, I find myself thinking, what kind of a blog should I have. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to... cry if I want to... cry if I want to...

OK, I'll admit, I'm losing it. But isn't it my choice if I want my blog to be about my losing it?

The fact is that there are too many choices. I could be real, and expose all the dark corners of my psyche. I could spend all my time discussing current issues. I could make it a sports blog. I could call it my personal experiment and post only hypothetical posts to study how people respond. I could also just summerize my daily existence and see if anyone cares.

Then there's the question of what do I want to get out of having a blog. Now that's the real question. People rarely start something like this for others, they're trying to get something out of it themselves. So what do I need? Encouragement? Knowing that someone is listening (ok I know I don't have any audio files so you can't listen, but you know what I mean)? Do I need an outlet for my emotions, thoughts, energy?

Again, too many questions.

So while I decide what to do, maybe I'll take the bold step and actually ask what you would like to interact with? Is there something that you prefer to avoid?

But then again, I suppose I should still be my own person and make this blog about whatever I want. I've got to be a man, and make my own choices. And so, please stay tuned and watch how this thing develops. And don't worry, the hypothetical use of you all as my personal bunch of lab rats was simply conjecture. Really. It was simply conjecture. Really.

[Subject walks to stage left with a very devious look in his eyes, a slight smirk, and a light step, appearing to hum to himself very contentedly. Stage lights fade to black. The single laptop on the table remains glowing in the silence.]

Sprotid on Head! (Sprats are Good!)

Yesterday we went out to the store and we happened to find some sprats. Upon closer inspection, they were being sold under the local importer's label, yet they are from Viru Kalatööstus OÜ. We found the very same sprats we used to buy when we were living in Estonia! We bought some, brought them home, then realized we didn't have any rye bread to have them with. Oh well, good old regular white bread and some sprats. Yum Yum.

Now, most of you will be wondering one of two things, and there's also a good chance that you're thinking both. First, what in the world are sprats? Secondly, why in the world would you want to eat them? To answer the first question, they are small fish, similar to anchovies, but different. Secondly, because they are the taste of home. I grew up with them. My wife grew up with them. They don't taste bad, a little off maybe, but not bad. They are good for you, lots of protein and good healthy fish oils rich in nutrients. But most of all they remind us of home, we grew up with them, and we still enjoy them.

I just realized how ironic this really is, here I sit and I look up from the computer across the room and my gaze falls onto our aquarium. Inside are 6 fish, slightly smaller than the sprats we have enjoyed. Here we are, with our own local supply, and we are overjoyed by having minnows from across the world, shipped to us in a tin, soaking in rapeseed oil and salt.

Now, because our aquarium fish are still smaller than most sprats, we won't be farming the tank. But somehow it struck me as ironic. And yet it is prove positive of the global economy. Then as I sit here I have another thought. Why in the world does our local grocery store stock sprats? Is there actually a large enough market for them here in suburbia? Or did we just enjoy a tin of 6 year old fish that has been dusted off who knows how many times before we happened to spy them sitting there on the top shelf above the chunk light tuna?

Ok, the gears are starting to grind... gotta slow down a bit, the noggin isn't handling such deep thoughts that well yet. Got to get back to shallower waters... ahhhhhhhhh the wading pool.... think happy thoughts..... hmmmmm.... sprats..... oh crap, here we go again.

I have got to get more sleep.

By the way

While you are introduced to my blog, feel free to let me know how you like it. I took one of the templates available and did some customizing, getting rid of aspects I don't need and reformatting the appearance.

And so it begins...

Welcome to my blog. I'm not sure why I'm starting a blog. Possibly as an experiment, possibly to try to express something, possibly out of curiosity. But here we are and here we go.

Why Square Foot for the name of the blog? I suppose it's because I feel like I've stumbled through life with one square foot. Or maybe due to my love of building things, or because ... well I'm still not sure. But it's worth a try.

Feel free to rave, rant, rip apart my opinions, and interact. But please try to be nice. Attack ideas, not people. Argue, don't fight. But if we can avoid all that and just be a blessing, all the better.

Anyhow, just wanted to say hi.

Dave