Resetting the Mind

My explanation (read:excuse) for neglecting this project.

Forgive my absence for the last several months. As an exercise in writing daily, this has been a spectacular failure. In my defense, I have had matters both personal and professional that have demanded my time and a great deal of mental energy, leaving me without the necessary time or energy to devote to this hobby. Writing is a matter of both inspiration, time, and discipline. One of those three has been lacking on any given day. If I'm completely honest, it was usually discipline. Also, this was turning into just a Georgia Football themed blog, which wasn't my intention. That, and the fact that I allocated time in the morning for this exercise, and I'm not even remotely a morning person.

Much has happened over my hiatus, not the least of which is the Georgia Bulldogs repeated as National Champions, to my great pleasure and the joy of the entire Bulldog Nation. I know for many the Championship game itself was a bit of a bore, but I, for one, always enjoy watching the Dawgs manhandle an opponent, and it was especially satisfying to see it on such a stage. Besides, TCU is a Protestant university.

Less important things have occurred, as well. The Republicans squandered every advantage available to them in the last election cycle, which comes as absolutely no surprise to me. It seems they can only scare up the effort to focus on an election if it's in a country that doesn't have democracy. The Oscars happened. Or maybe they didn't. I don't know or care, and neither should you – unless you want to observe evidence the slow motion collapse of the West in a single broadcast.

While I have not spent as much time writing as I should have, I have spent a lot of time exploring Substack. There are some great writers here exploring important topics, so I encourage all of you to download the app and do some exploring yourself. Unless you have abandoned the smart phone so as not to have The Mark of the Beast upon your soul. If so, I wouldn't blame you. Moving forward, I will highlight people whose writing I find insightful, but that will have to wait for another day.

I have been working on some writing projects, and considering including them in this Substack behind a paywall. To be clear, this is not an invitation to become a paid subscriber (though if you want to subsidize my craft beer hobby, I welcome the contribution). It's meant more as an exercise in implementing deadlines for myself so that I will spend more time writing. Behind the paywall will be rough drafts of semi-autobiographical short stories that I hope to one day compile into a coherent novel, but that process begins with doing actual, you know, writing.

As for my hopes for this blog moving forward, I'm going to commit to posting six times a month (not including things behind a paywall). I will post one essay a month on the following categories: History or current events, religion, beer, entertainment, a Substack I follow, and once a month a pitch to remake a film I love, but cast with the Muppets. For now, I will let this suffice for an effort to write today, and to restart the blog. Later this week, beer.

May your soup be warm, your beer be cold, and your bar tab affordable.