Introduction...

To be perfectly honest, above all other things, I’ve always viewed myself as a collector of new experiences. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve been drawn to some of the things I’ve done in the past: working at the newspaper, working on the ambulance, serving in the military, being in the fire department, etc., etc.
We’ve all heard that variety is the spice of life, and I heard someone say once that a person is the sum total of all the people they’ve met, places they’ve been and the books they’ve read. Somewhere along the way, I took all of that to heart and have made it a point to actively seek out new experiences. (My Facebook friends won’t find this hard to believe.)
While it’s not always possible, I try to do or experience something new every day. Not only is it educational, but doing so adds a lot to life. While this might sound odd at first, I assure you that I’m not talking about trying to have daily experiences like attempting to climb Mount Everest (even though that would be awesome). When I speak of doing something new, it could be something as mundane as ordering something you’ve never eaten before from the menu of a restaurant you visit often.
I’m making a job change this week and while I’ll continue to write a weekly sports column for The Evergreen Courant, I’ll be getting away from the full-time writing life for the time being. With that said, the main purpose of this new blog is to help me keep and maintain the meager writing skills that I have and journalistically document some of my new experiences. I hope you’ll find it interesting.
My intention is to keep the content light-hearted and informative, and I hope it’ll encourage others to have and share their own experiences. When I speak of new experiences I’m talking about meeting people I’ve never met before, going places I’ve never gone and doing things that I’ve never done. Much of what you’ll find here will be information about new books that I’ve read, restaurants I’ve never visited, celebrities that I happen to meet (if any), food I’ve never tried, events I’ve never attended (like festivals and sporting events), places (like state parks and hiking trails) and movies I’ve seen for the first time.
You’ll also find that I’m big on lists. I’ve always been drawn to “bucket” lists, top 10 lists of things to do, go, eat and see, as well as recommended reading lists and best-of lists. If you run across any lists like these, feel free to share them.
In the end, I hope that none of you find this blog to be boring or too self-indulgent. If so, then I’ve failed in what I’ve set out to do, and I’ll need to tighten up.
P.S. At this point, the biggest challenge in setting up this blog is selecting an appropriate name or title for it. In a weird attempt at humor, you see what I’ve selected. Feel free to send me your suggestions.