Where I've Been

I have begun this essay several times, and it has never been quite right. So maybe I should come right out and tell you where I've been, not pussyfoot around, not get all lyrical and poetic.

I've been at Flickr.

I used to write to relieve stress, but while I was working on my MFA (a degree I pursued because I thought it would help me to get a college teaching gig as something other than an adjunct, an extraneous appendage, and because I thought it would help me to write a book), I started taking photographs to relieve some stress.

Just before my graduation, I quit teaching because it didn't seem likely that I would become a permanent part of my school. But I did write a book. More on that next week.

Just as difficult as keeping up a blog was visiting those who had come here so often. And because I no longer had the time to read what my blogging companions around the country were writing, I didn't want to take advantage.

But my manuscript is now in other stages, and I would like to catch up—with your lives, with the writing life, and with A Doggy's Life.

So I raise my beer glass (today, it's Sam Adams Winter Lager) to renewed relationships and inspirations. See you soon. [hic]