A Little Introduction

Dear Son,

Hi. I'm the person who will become your father. By the time you read this, you'll have known me for awhile, but I'll probably be a pretty different man.

As I start this blog, you aren't born yet. In fact, I'd guess you're about 3 years even from being conceived. I have no idea if you'll actually be a "son", but your mom seems convinced that our first child will be a boy. Besides, "Son" is easier to type than "Daughter". But I decided to start now, and to start with you. I needed some theme to hang a journal around, and thought of all the people I wanted to think about while I was writing, it was you. Besides, I've always wanted to start a journal (tried on a number of occasions), but I could never seem to keep with it. I think I need to know that these words will be read.

In a way I guess that means I'm kind of using you, but I like to think of it as a trade. A contract, if you will. I get an audience of sorts and an impetus to keep this journal, and someday you get to peer into the past mind of your old man. I don't know how old you'll be when you read this - maybe college, maybe earlier. I suppose you might even find it on the computer if I last that long, although I think I'll seek to prevent that. But that's a bridge I don't have to think about for a long time.

Of course, I'm also publishing the thing on line, so anyone around the world can read my thoughts. Last night I was talking with your mom about why people feel the need to do that. Why are blogs being so prolific? Why do we risk exposure, when one could just as easily do this on a word processor and keep it locked away in their own computer? I guess we all have a desire to be heard, to explain ourselves.

There'll be more on that later. This will be fairly introspective, as I suppose most journals are. It'll also ramble, so I appologize in advance. But at this point, it's as much for me as you, so there you go. You can skip past a lot of stuff and I won't even feel bad about it. Promise.

Anyway, as I write I'm 29 years old, and a little over halfway done with my second year of law school here in Seattle at the University of Washington. I just got married to your mom last September back in Reno. I'll spare you the rest of the bio for now - you'll know it all by the time you read this anyway.

OK - enough for now. We don't need the single post to be that long after all.

Love, Dad. (Wow. That's heavy. But I like the sound of it.)