Welcome to the Left Coast

And so I begin again. 

Several attempts at blogging over the last several years have fallen by the wayside for one reason or another. One blog belonged to a friend, who seemed to lose interest after Howard Dean left the 2004 presidential contests. I started my own blog in 2004, but my writing output seemed to have peaks and valleys, with creative spurts lasting several months or so before I would scale back or stop all together.


My latest self-imposed break started in July of 2009, following a health scare. What I thought was a heart attack wasn't (my heart is relatively healthy, thank you), but the ordeal took a lot out of me physically, as well as mentally; and, as a result, the writing suffered.

The thing is, over the last couple of years, I have felt as if my brain isn't getting enough exercise.  Sure, I read as much as I can, but writing always seemed to get the endorphins flowing; blogging kept me sharp and focused throughout the day.  I have missed it, and have been yearning to return for a while.


And so, today I launch Left Coast Journal.  Essentially it will be just that - a journal - a combination of commentary on issues of the day, music posts, movie reviews, book recommendations, pictures of my dog... you get the idea.


I am not the best writer in the world, far from professional, but I enjoy it immensely. The late screenwriter, Stirling Siliphant, once said, "The secret to writing is to write, write, write, and then write some more." And so, I plan to do just that. I don't expect to overload Tumblr's bandwidth, and Left Coast Journal isn't intended to become some big overnight internet sensation.


It exists, simply, so I can write.


And with that, I begin...