To blog, or not to blog?

So, I kind of lied. I said I was going to put effort into this blog. I said I was going to commit to a whole new suite of articles. I said there was going to be some good content. I started writing articles, editing pictures, and even making contacts at potential subjects to interview.

Then, I got lazy. The blog became an afterthought in my ever-busy life. After my weight just barely topped 150 pounds in January, I started a new diet and a more detailed exercise regime. I am proud to say I hit 129 just a few weeks ago and haven't had serious acid reflux in months. I joined an improv comedy troupe and appeared in a stage production for the first time in six years. I started applying for jobs and started a new position last week.

When I finally had the time and thought devoted to blogging again, I tried to sign on to edit my blog, and I couldn't. There was some sort of glitch, and I couldn't figure it out. I alternated between giving up and trying to figure it out, and after months, I finally figured out that my inability to edit my blog stemmed from a combination of Blogger's new user interface and the outdated version of IE my computer was using.

So, that brings me to now. I have a new computer and the new version of IE (though I'll probably switch to Mozilla or Chrome soon). I'm in a new house with a new job and new people around me. I am now ready to blog.

Well, not really. First, I'm going to analyze the many failures of Blog the Swamp and try to see how I can avoid those in my new one. These include:

• Irregular updating. Yeah, it was pretty sketchy. This time, I hope to at least update once every few days, even with short, paragraph-long anecdotes or a picture or two. That way, you will know I'm still alive and interested in the website.
• Lack of focus. I'm not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. I wrote movie reviews, political commentary, and narratives of random events. I am pondering focusing my new website, but I don't know where to go from there.
• Lack of pictures. I take lots of pictures that nobody ever sees. That should change.

Lastly, I've resolved to making real progress on at least one of my half-dozen unfinished novels. That's going to take up quite a bit of time, especially since, depending on the plot I choose to finish, it could be like starting from scratch.

So, that's where I am. Please be patient with me while I figure out where I'm going, and as usual, thanks for reading.

THIS BLOG WILL BE SAVED!

Okay, I promised I wouldn't let this die. And I've promised that like five times already. Well, now I'm here to promise again that this blog will return very shortly. This time, I actually have a few series of articles that I'm currently working on and will be publishing interchangeably over the next few weeks. Here's a brief preview:

Canned Activism: If you haven't heard of "Kony 2012," you probably will soon enough. It's a marketing campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the Lord's Resistance Army, a militant group in Uganda known for forcing children to join its ranks. What I find very interesting about this campaign is that I've known about the LRA for several years now. I know people (some of you are probably reading this) who have been trying to build awareness of child soldiers, including those taken by the LRA, since the mid 2000s, with little to no success. Why now? And will the increased attention to the LRA and child soldiers last? In "Canned Activism," I will explore the sudden rise of this awareness campaign while at the same time looking at similar "awareness" movements that rise rapidly and seemingly disappear - think Occupy Wall Street, Darfur, Haiti earthquake relief, the Jena Six. Is our attention span really that short?

Dances with Reflux: This series will focus on my increasingly difficult battle with acid reflux and indigestion. I am nearing the one-year anniversary of the sudden onset of symptoms that has pretty much quashed my culinary exploits, severaly curtailed my enjoyment of physical activity, and greatly aggravated my mental health. In "Dances with Reflux," I will talk about challenges with changing my diet and returning to my previously active lifestyle

Now, That's What I Don't Call Music! Since I have moved to Virginia Beach, my knowledge of music has dramatically increased. However, I often find myself slightly bothered by the egregiously poor grammar, cacophonous instrumentals, and overall horrendous quality of much of today's "popular" music. This series will focus on my dabbling into the world of today's music, from Skrillex to Nicki Minaj, and why I don't like it.

In addition to these series, you should expect all sorts of random content that my blog used to be filled with. I've got thousands of wildlife pictures from work nobody has ever seen but myself, as well as hundreds of untouched snapshots from travels to such interesting places as Berlin, Annapolis, and West Virginia. Maybe I'll even throw in few recipes, poems, and other things, too.

Thanks for reading, here's to a productive 2012!

This blog will be back. Really.

Okay, I've said it before many times, but I'm going to make it a New Year resolution to have at least 50 blog posts in 2012. If you knkow me well, you know that I have a knack for telling stories of all sorts. My love for storytelling drove me to create this blog in the first place, but I've never been completely happy at the results. Part of my unhappiness with my blog comes from the fact that my storytelling style doesn't really make much sense when directly transcribed. I use a lot of gestures and flavor words when I talk. Therefore, it is sometimes a bit of a challenge to create a written product that it equal in meaning to my verbal story, but I think I'm getting better at it.

I'm also getting ready to launch my long-awaited second blog, which may or may not actually have my name attached to it due to the nature of the content.

Anyway, I'm off to hit to bed shortly after ringing in the new year. Thanks for reading!

Trial By Fire

I head off this morning to help out with the Lateral West Fire. The fire has been burning on Great Dismal Swamp NWR since August 4. Hurricane Irene dumped a lot of rain on it, but the fire remains active. It is about 90% contained.

I will be at the fire from today until the 23rd. I'm supposed to be supporting logistics, but they've been very vague about what I'll actually be doing. They literally told me to show up at 9 am today with a pickup and maybe a laptop. This will be interesting at the very least.

Thanks for reading.

The Day After

Quick update: somehow still have power. Skies are mostly cloudy and there are still some occasional moderate winds, but for the most part, it's relatively calm. There are branches and leaves everywhere.

No word yet on status of my house or the conditions (road/flooding) in Virginia Beach, so I'll stay put until I hear anything.

Hurricane update

Conditions have improved significantly for my immediate area in Chesapeake. Winds have died down to a fraction of what they were earlier this evening, although we got some pretty strong gusts around 10-11 pm that scared me a bit.

As of a few minutes ago, it was estimated that 371,000 customers in the Hampton Roads have lost power. What's surprising is that 379,000 customers have lost power in the Richmond area, which probably was hurt more by the winds. We benefited from a number of lulls in the storm (there was a significant die-down in the winds in the later part of afternoon), but it seemed like Richmond really got pounded, as well as a strip from Isle of Wight county southwest to Franklin.

I intend to return to the house either tomorrow afternoon/evening or Monday. My supervisor, who is staying down the road at our office, has informed us that she will check on it (and other refuge facilities) to see if it is safe to return. I'm not sure what to expect; I haven't seen anything in the news from most of VB except areas right along the ocean. Sandbridge seems to have been hit really hard and even had a tornado. It was strange to see places I drive pass every day show up on TV.

Well, it's bedtime for me. I'll update tomorrow and throughout the week to show the damage that Irene has caused.

Hurricane Update

I'm still here in Chesapeake. Somehow, we still have power, but it's pretty windy and the lights have been flickering on and off. I still don't have my camera because, quite honestly, I afraid to go outside for fear of getting struck in the head by one of the many branches flying around. The lawn and the streets are absolutely covered in leaves and branches. Since this afternoon, a group of robins has taken shelter under my car.

About an hour ago, we got reports that the eye of the storm was passing just to the east of Knotts Island, home of Mackay Island NWR and whose staff I have worked with on a few occasions. The eye then passed just to the east of Virginia Beach and is currently moving north in a direction parallel to the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Meanwhile, I have been reading a book on wombats and enjoying a marathon of Warehouse 13. At this point, I've become significantly less nervous and am much more optimistic about the situation, though I remain very cautious. I'm anticipating significant damage to my house and am anticipating a very harrowing drive home tomorrow or Monday.

That's all for now; I will keep you updated as the storm progresses.