Damn...I'm so sorry to hear that...

I have been shopping at the Aamazing Fantasy comic book store in Littleton, CO since I was in the seventh grade. Over the years I have spent countless hours enwrapped in the tales of wonder and woe offered by this shop, and it holds a special place in my heart. As I was purchasing my weekly comic shipment today, I learned that the owner's wife had just passed away.

While I was extending my condolences, Shawn (the owner) found it necessary to walk across the store to where I was standing, hug me, and thank me. You see, a few years back, I had given a ride to his wife so that they could get their sick cat to the vet. It had taken no more than a half hour of my time and really didn't require much effort on my part. In fact, I seem to recall making a joke at the time that this was the easiest good deed for the year that I'd ever done.

Years later, that simple act of kindness suddenly meant a great deal to Shawn, and I found myself sharing a hug with someone whom I don't even believe I've shaken hands with. I spent the rest of the day reflecting on this exchange, trying to wrap my mind around it.

Too often, I think that I simply ignored the people that were around me. I glossed over their pain, their suffering, their loss because I didn't want to get involved. I didn't want it to bog me down. After all, I've got enough problems of my own that I don't need to waste my time on them...Now I find myself wishing that I would have spent a little more time reaching out to those that have been around me.

Opening Salvo

Well, it's been previously stated that whenever I get around to jumping on the technology bandwagon, the trend has reached complete market saturation. I have always dragged my feet when it came to upgrading to the newest technology or participating in the latest fad. Part of this is because I am extremely lazy and unwilling to put forth any individual effort. The other factor is that I am an extremely cheap individual. Some might say niggardly. (Of course said people would immediately be tackled by members of the ACLU and subsequently beaten into a sticky paste.) Unwilling to part with my hard earned cash, I still lug about a cell phone that is heavy enough to beat a man into unconscioness. I've never spent more than $20 on a video game (though I've owned dozens), and my car is old enough to drink alcoholic beverages.

So why blog? Why bother to participate in this particular social phenomenon. The short answer - it's free. The not as short answer - arrogance. As all writers do, I'm operating under the assumption that people will find what I have to say exceedingly interesting, moderately entertaining, or at least unexplainably addictive. The least shortest answer - hope. As mentioned previously, I'm inherently lazy. While I hold grand aspirations of being a well-published author, I rarely put forth any effort into writing outside of my job. In fact, I spend most of my time talking myself out of writing. I am inherently afraid that I am not nearly as intelligent or funny as I think I am, and the moment anyone reads anything I have written, they will see through to the babbling moron that lies within. With this blog, I hope to take a few of the first steps in changing this. (The being afraid part, not the babbling moron part...though I should probably look into working on that as well.)