So, It Begins

I guess everything needs to start somewhere, so I'll begin here.  This is a little strange for me.  Up until now, I haven't been the type of person who does this sort of thing--posting thoughts on the Internet.  I don't care for Facebook and think even less of Twitter and yet, here I am, going against my usual inclinations and making my first post on a blog.  I'm not sure exactly what is driving this other than the fact that we came home from our recent vacation to New Jersey (driving, by the way, over 6000 miles in two weeks to go there and back again; go ahead, tell me we were crazy, you won't be the first) and I started to get this . . . tickle (for lack of a better word), spurring me on to start a blog.  The whys and the wherefores of this inkling is as big a mystery to me as it is to Jennifer.  When I told her I was thinking of doing this she was speechless, "I don't know how to respond," she said after several moments of stunned silence; a sentiment that made perfect sense to me.  I guess if nothing else, maybe this will keep me from wasting a couple of hours reading articles on msn or other news websites while I wait for my body to wind down enough to crash when I go to bed.  I've never been very good at keeping a journal, maybe this will help.

First, I had to come up with an appropriate title.  I figured no self-respecting blog could live without a good title.  Mine comes from an ELO song (yes, as a child of the late 70's and early 80's, I am a fan) from their album Time.  At first, I was thinking "Strange Magic," but then I wondered if some unsuspecting person perusing random blogs might think I was a Harry Potter wannabe or a practicing warlock.  No need to make trouble for myself.  In the song, the narrator turns the title into more of a question: "I wonder, is this the way the way life's meant to be."  Although the title seems more of a statement rather than a question, I've decided to use the question.  I'm sure we've all had moments when we've thought, "Is this the way life's meant to be?"  Thankfully, I can say my answer to that question has been mostly positive.  The subtitle is a riff on a comment made by someone at the beginning of "Our Heavenly Father's Plan"--a video I showed quite a bit as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back in the late '80's.  It just seemed to fit with the direction I think my blog may take me as I follow this particular yellow brick road.

What do I want to accomplish with this blog?  Good question, thank you for asking.  As I considered and disregarded several answers, I'm left with: I suppose I'll figure that out as I go along.  My initial hope is that I'll be able to make some observations as to what our recent vacation meant to me; from there, I hope I'll be able to write some things that are either important to me (the "general" part) or make random musings that might be funny at least to me and possibly someone else (the "abstract" part).  Who might read this?  I don't know.  Will anyone read it other than me?  Probably (family members who will take pity on my poor soul), but I don't expect to have some huge following like those people with popular blogs I have read--that would be a shock.  All I know for sure right now is I had a feeling that I should start this, so, I'm starting it.  If there is anyone out there besides me who is reading this, welcome to my head--please lock your trays, return your seats to an upright position and cinch your seat belts tight.  I've tried to sweep out the cobwebs, beat the dust off the sofa cushions and fluff the pillows, but if you need to use the restroom be sure to watch out for the three-headed dog at the end of the corridor.