Article 01 - A New Beginning.

IT'S A BOY!
July, 2005 marks my 30th year of life on this planet. My goodness. What does a person do with that? Instead of sulking in the fear at the possibility that I might have crossed the half-way point of my life, I have decided to offer up a gift to all of you.

BABY STEPS.
I crossed the one-year mark on my blogging adventure not too long ago. After the significance of that milestone dawned on me, I slowly grew a tad dissatisfied with my apparent lack of a spine. Confession is good for the soul; I pussyfoot too much. For crying out loud, it's the friggin' Internet. You could learn how to deep-fry a cat out there (if you wanted to).

FROM MILK TO MEAT.
Truth be told, what I have written has not been much of who I am. From my perspective, that amounts to a biggie-sized waste o' time. So then, in the interest of leaving something behind for my children, I have decided to quit farting in the bathtub and just start saying something.

THE JOURNEY INTO HUMANHOOD.
The good news is, what I will write here is an amalgam of experiences and beliefs about those experiences which have influenced me very deeply. In that sense, it is your opportunity to know me better (you can thank me later). At the same time, there is no receipt for this gift. You can't hope for in-store credit if these words don't fit you. You can't complain about the workmanship of the wares. What you see is truly what you get. Take it or leave it. Just don't bother bitching. You'll be the only one listening.

I suppose if you were paying money for any of this, that would amount to a pretty crappy deal. Can't say I'd buy it any more than you would. But it doesn't cost a cent of anything but your time, so in that sense, it's worth risking a little disappointment (from where I sit).

ALL JOKING ASIDE.
In all seriousness, I wouldn't even bother with any of this mess if I didn't have a deep belief that some of you might be better for having read it. Along with that hope comes the near certainty that I'll wind up pissing off more of you than I care to. What to do? Do I see a few people set free at the cost of driving more away? Or do I selfishly bury and protect a freedom that could belong to everyone, just because I want people to say nice things about me?

To hell with the nice things. Pandering is poison anyway.
I would much rather be pitied by thousands and see a family member run free than return to the vomit of an abundant alternative... placating.

UNDERSTANDING THE MESSENGER.
So far, you may have noticed my language to be a bit silly, harsh, and perhaps even cynical. These would all be accurate reads on what has preceded. My hat is off to you if that's what you've managed to paint of me so far. Just don't be so foolish as to think for one miniscule second that you have me figured out by that same observation. For starters, you never know when I'm just playing the devil's advocate, or at the very least, acting a clown. Likewise, don't be so silly as to think that each post will read in precisely the same tone. I'm a human being... not a robot. I am changing and evolving on a daily basis. If you cannot handle the manner in which I might parlay this life-affirming mass of experiences and musings, then leave now. I don't want to offend you any more than you want to be offended. That's the truth. Just don't be so offensive yourself as to ask me to calm down, shut up, or speak in a language that is not my own. This is my house and you're welcome in it. But the beer chills in the fridge and the dog is allowed on the couch. When I come to your house, feel free to do things differently.

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE.
This has been step one. It's an announcement. It's an introduction. You've either been bored by it, hooked by it, or gagged on it. If you've made it this far, you might consider book marking it. Come back from time to time. I swear to you, I'm gonna put some stuff on here that will get you thinking. Most of it will be religious in nature. That's because I consider such issues to be supremely important in my life. The up-side to that is, I can speak of such things in a lighthearted and hopefully provocative way.

THANKS FOR CARING.
I'm flattered that you'd bother to bother with the likes of me. Thanks for caring. Now go do something amazingly good and undeserved for a stranger. You're probably on the computer too much as it is.

Cheers!
Luke