DO NOT READ THIS ...

Couldn't resist, could you?

Actually, I don't know why I'm doing this. Increasingly, people are recommending that professionals stay away from posting information on the Internet because something they say now could come back to haunt them years from now. Do I really want a permanent record of my random thoughts over the years? Let's look at the pros and cons.

The biggest dangers are that (a) I may regret something I say here, (b) someone wildly misinterprets something I write, (c) someone takes a comment out of context and accuses me of mean, ugly, and nasty thoughts, or (d) I embarrass someone I respect and love by making one of my (in)famous throwaway comments. These are not trivial dangers. I am well known for making rather extreme comments without considering whether someone will interpret it wrongly and be hurt by it.

On the other hand, I have never inhibited my actions and thoughts for fear of some future, unpredictable consequence (and this has got me in trouble). Also, people who really know me realize that I never disparage anyone intentionally. One of the worst crimes, in my book, would be to maliciously hurt someone else - physically or emotionally. If you tell me you were hurt by something I wrote, I will apologize and/or delete any offending comments.

So what's the up-side? Well, recently, I accidentally ran into an old blog on my trip to Australia (http://rvinaustralia.blogspot.com/) and found it fascinating to read about my trip. It helped me relive some pleasant memories and feelings. I am also quite a "contrarian." I often take extreme positions that I don't necessarily believe in just to see how people argue against my point of view. I always find arguing with people (who don't take it personally) to be a great learning experience. For the same reason, about the only people I don't get along with well are sensitive people who assume there is some deeper meaning in everything I say. But, I don't meet too many of those since I suspect they go out of their way to avoid me! Getting back to the point, I thought a personal blog would work much the way a journal does. It will allow me to chronicle thoughts on a variety of issues that I can read at a later date and then go back and laugh about. Why not a private journal? Because I spend so much time in front of a computer and computers today are easier for me to access (anywhere and any time) than a physical book. Also, I occasionally find that I have some ideas I want to share with others. With a blog, I can simply point people to a particular post.

So, this blog will be about my thoughts regarding consumer behavior, politics, religion, or anything else that interests me. Everything I write here may not be exactly what I really believe, but it will, in some mysterious way, be revealing in terms of what I'm like.

Hey, it's an experiment. Let's see if it even lasts beyond the first post!