What can I say?

When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I used to hang out with a regular group of four friends.  One of them, a squat, bespectacled fast-food restaurant manager named Randy, often made shocking or obscene remarks in order to get a rise out of the rest of us.  He was totally shameless and would say just about anything at any time – but we were all pretty much used to it.  Every so often, however, he’d come up with something so completely disgusting or bizarre that the rest of us would stop, stare at him and express our mortification (mostly in the form of screwed-up faces and shouts of “Ewwww!”).  At this point, Randy would always look around as if surprised, then shrug and ask, “What can I say?”

And so here I am, 20 years later, starting a blog, something I never dreamed I’d do, and wondering myself now: What can I say?

Maybe I don’t have to say much of anything.  Because the main purpose of my blog will be to share a record of my creative life, and that’s almost entirely a visual thing.  I’ve been so inspired by the many artists who share their work through their online journals, and maybe some day, someone, somewhere, will be inspired by something of mine.  Also, as I’ve begun (after a hiatus of several years) to get involved in swaps, round robins and trades again, more and more people are asking whether I have a blog.  I don’t blame anyone for wanting a peek at my work before they commit to swapping with me or letting me join a round robin!  And because I have lately been donating artwork to charitable causes (such as Virginia Spiegel’s recent Collage Mania event to benefit cancer research and an upcoming online sale for autism), it would be nice if I could not only participate in, but also promote these worthy causes.  What better venue for an individual to do this than through links on his/her blog?

And so – it begins!