Who? Why?

I blogged back in the day, when the internet was very new, as part of a writing assignment as an undergrad.  I had to print out the blog and hand it in, and I had to explain to the instructor that if he looked at it online, he should read backwards (i.e., from the bottom/first date to the top/most recent date). That blog is now defunct and like so much else in college life, does not serve me well.

I am writing now for me – not for others, but for me – and if others come along on the trip, all the better. All the writing I have done up to now has been for others, in a way:  I wrote my first blog for an instructor, then continued writing for my kids and to make an argument about the war in Iraq. Now I’m back to blogging, and while I don’t promise a lack of political content, I plan to focus on two things I enjoy and that are serving me well now:  rhetoric and running.

I am a college instructor (an adjunct) and teach writing – so rhetoric is something I both teach as well as use every day. I love talking with students about how they can make their arguments stronger and how they can figure out their own writing processes to make the work they do easier and more fun…because writing can be fun. We wouldn’t do it if it didn’t have some sort of payoff, and for some of us, writing is indeed fun.

In much the same way that I love having written, I love having run. I love the act of writing (although I stress over it, and dread it, but in reality – just like with running – the act of starting is the hard part). Sometimes, when things are going really well, running (like writing) becomes effortless. There is always work involved, though, in both activities. Sometimes, though, if we are lucky, the work doesn’t feel like work.

I’m learning a lot right now about running, having returned to it late in life, and I am learning loads about diet, too, so that likely will make its way in here. I try to tell a good story, and I always do my best.