Evolution

I think it's possible that Facebook has made me brave.  

I linked my blog on Facebook awhile ago.  It was kind of a big decision, because I'd always sort of kept things somewhat anonymous on the blog.  I wanted to be able to write what I wanted to write without having to worry about dealing with the backlash...  Except here we are, well over four years later, and I haven't written anything that's particularly backlash-y.  It turns out that I'm mature enough to know what to publish and what not to publish:  I don't write about work, so I don't fear the Dooce-ing.  I don't write inflammatory things about people.  The blog has become, as the title suggests, a description of my life....a way for me to understand myself and to remember the fun (and frustration) of raising a particularly bright-eyed Monkey and to put words around some of the significant (and insignificant) things I experience and observe. 


And I'm finding, as I continue to write, that I'm not particularly concerned with dissociating these descriptions from me as much as I was before.  


I'm not sure I'm ready to trumpet my name in the header just yet.  It's still easier to work forward (from knowing me to finding my blog) than backward (from stumbling upon the blog to finding me)...and I'm ok with that.  But the artifice of character names (for those who have consented to being written about) feels like trying too hard.  And maybe it would be ok, if it fits with the topic, to throw up the odd photo of me every now and then.  I'm not prone to overnight change...but I see a path of evolution here for the blog...and for me.


So with that settled, I'll make a brief introduction to a new character in my life:  say hello to Reid.  Reid has been slowly working his way through reading the blog both back to front and front to back (talk about dedication!)...he's expecting to land somewhere in the middle before long.  Given the amount of time I've spent in conversation with him over the last few months, it's impossible for me to continue writing here without his name coming up...so I thought it best to introduce him outright, before he just shows up somewhere.  He is, to a degree, the reason I haven't published here in awhile (turns out that writing emails will sate my word-lust as much as blogging does) and will, I predict, factor into more than a few of the things I expect to write going forward.  

Evolution.  This began as a blog without a name.  Then it became a blog with a name.  Now it's *my* blog with a name.  I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!