For quite a while now, I’ve struggled with the idea of a blog. Seriously. I’ve grappled with the torrent of content running through my brain (those of you who know me personally know that sometimes my brain moves faster than my mouth)… continually revisiting themes, organizational ideas and reworking a structured “plan of attack” sketched out in pink pen on scratch paper (per the suggestion of WordPress, it features me as an emaciated stick figure with a happy face, surrounded by all the things I’m “passionate about” in bubbles).

And then… there was the great hurdle of finding a name. I told myself I couldn’t really give birth to this project unless it had a savvy name. “Spiralis” was on my short list—that’s medieval Latin for spiral. I’m kinda a spiral nut in all honesty (I see them everywhere, draw them obsessively, etc.). Once I started to investigate further, I realized that “Spiralis” reminded me of “Trichinella spiralis.” Yeah, talk about a buzz kill.

I turned to my favorite poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti— “Dog.” It’s one of the few poems that I have almost memorized (I’d be a terrible bard, but it’s a skill I secretly hone as I read). The Dog sits on the corner of a San Francisco street and observes his world:

“… looking like a living questionmark into the great gramaphone of puzzling existence…” (L. Ferlinghetti)

While sipping my tea and scrawling alternative names on paper, I realized that the Dog and I have a lot in common.

I have too many interests to blog authoritatively on just one. So, at least for now… this blog will be subject to whatever happens to be cycling through my brain at the moment.