I’ve had this domain for years with the intent of starting a blog. Today, I turned 49. Launching my blog seemed like a great birthday present to myself. The timing is perfect as I’ve been consumed with learning how to build websites with 11ty (pronounced eleventy) over the past few weeks. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. And yes, I’m quite aware that may say more about me than 11ty.

I’m not sure I have anything to say. I’m certainly not sure I’ll write anything worth reading. It’s probably best to assume I won’t. But then, why blog or write at all?

Writing is the path to clear thinking. Not necessarily for the reader but often for the writer. I’ll write for me. When I was getting my philosophy degree, I found I often sat to write, thinking I held one view only to uncover through my own words that I felt the opposite. Or that I wasn’t sure exactly what I thought. Writing is, after all, thinking. And I’d rather think clearly than not.

Beyond that, we live in a world where the internet seems to have lost its way. People create content for a handful of social media platforms. People are creating content for giant corporations. Corporations that don’t give a damn about us. It wasn’t always this way.

It used to be that if you had something to say - through words or art - you had to have your own website. Others have written about this better than I can. Maybe I’ll update this post with some links to those posts. It seems a bunch of people are trying to bring that back. So, in some way, this blog is an act of rebellion. A small voice joining a chorus that seems to be growing. A chorus that says no to the monolithic corporations and the consolidation of content into a few websites. And this blog, this website, this is my little corner of the internet.

So today, I share my birthday with my blog. Happy Birthday to us!