Reactivation

OK, so I'm inspired, or maybe envious, when my friends start up good blogs.

As feared, my riff on the tall Dutch threatens to become a dissertation. It lacks but one piece of a decent initial statement. When I have that, I'll stop before it becomes even more obsessive. Because--depend on it--academic writing demands, or encourages, an unhealthy level of obsession.

I tried this caveat once before and it didn't really stick, so let me rephrase it. I am not doing ideology. I think that is more specific than "I am not doing politics."

There is so much else to consider. Some of it from a splendid week in California which left me with a month's worth of material, some of it from the singularities of dealing with health care, some of it from contemplating the comedy of sports.

The absence? Many reasons, some of which may appear later on. Chief among them is that it becomes a little difficult to write for several hours a day for money, then come home and write for personal satisfaction. I could do it at 25. At 60, the edge of enthusiasm is a bit worn. I needed a break.

Perhaps I can sustain this effort.