My First Ever Blog Post.....

I know this is going to be somewhat lame because it's my first blog post ever, but wow, finally, here I am! I've put off starting a blog long enough. I admit that I didn't want to start one for a long time. I procrastinated and told myself that since everyone was doing it, I was just going to be yet another lost voice in the ever increasingly immense blogosphere. No one would read it and I would end up with nothing but my self indulgent rantings. I didn't want to be one of those people. I wanted to have something to say that might help other people to think and reflect upon their lives.

So many blogs out there are started by well meaning people who really don't have much of value to say to anyone. Why should I care that their cat had fur balls on the carpet yet again? And when they have opinions or give advice, that's often even worse. Who died and left them the experts on everything anyway? Would I end up one of those people who do what amounts to nothing more than online navel gazing or worse yet, axe grinding? (don't answer that question, lol). I truly shudder at the thought. I don't want to be one of those narcissistic people who writes just to hear my own voice (at least I hope I won't, lol). I want to try to have something of significance to say, or at least something that will get people thinking and commenting.

I have so many topics in mind to write about that it was hard to decide what to name this blog. I requested what felt like dozens of link names but most of them were taken. I wanted a catchy phrase that touched on my global thinking ability. I'm an intuitive and a generalist. Yes, that means I make broad and sweeping generalizations. I know that this annoys a lot of people, so I would suggest that the more empirical or "here and now" folks either tune out or try not take everything I say as written in stone or holding true in every case.

Mostly, I will be posting my impressions and unique perspectives on what is going on in my own world today. Right now my head is full of thoughts on the recession, fashion, social and societal issues, as well as generational issues. I am a 51 year old woman in the Northeastern United States. I was born in Manhattan, grew up in the Bronx and have lived in Connecticut for almost 20 years. I have witnessed a lot of changes in the half century of my life and have amassed quite a laundry list of things that either exasperate me, flummox me or that I have learned through many years of experience. I am a uniquely sensitive person who sees things from a perspective that perhaps not many people will relate to. Or maybe they will. We have yet to find out.

My mother always told me I should write. She, in fact, was quite a writer. A brilliant woman, she was a product of an age and a social milieu that did not value that in her and so she put off her ambitions for many years. After years of raising me and taking care of my dad, she had to go back to work full time to help support the family. This only further delayed her ambitions. She finally got her bachelor's degree in her 40s and then went on to City College in NY where she got a master's in Creative Writing in the late 1970s. This was no easy task for a woman with a husband and family working a full time job in lower Manhattan.

My mom met some great writers at City College, including Donald Barthelme and Manuel Puig. Unfortunately for her, she became increasingly ill and was unable to follow through on her writing ambitions. However, she would often stay up late at night writing notes that no one would ever see. That is, until I recently found them hidden away 8 years after her death in 2001. Imagine what might have happened if she'd have had a blog in which to write! My mother loved computers and knew a lot about how they worked, but she did not get into the internet despite the fact that she was online even before I was. Her illnesses prevented her from appreciating the outlet for her expression that it could have given her. So therefore, I have a mission in creating this blog, and that's to honor my mother and her memory, and most of all, her hopes and ambitions for me. This blog's for you, mom.

I hope to entertain you, make you think, provoke opinions (pro and con) and expand your horizons. I figure that even if people think I'm way off on something I'd have at least given them food for thought. OK, that's it for now. See you later!