The One Where I Blog About Blogging

One of the obtacles that prevented me from blogging for so long has been the fear that I'd be consumed by it (or that there would be so little time to write that it would lie dormant like the last one). But there are a few thoughts I've had over the last few days that I wanted to share. This might fall under the "writing as therapy" category but I hope you'll indulge me.

• The hardest thing for a blogger like me (in other words, not a journalist, celebrity or athlete) is to actually come up with something that people will want to read. So, therefore,
• The best blog posts are not simply random regurgitations of what happened to me that day, but they are mini-essays. Particularly that have a point.

I'm a very good consumer of blogs, but only read a few regularly. I read the guy who writes about old sports uniforms, the guy who draws pictures of pinup girls wearing sports jerseys (who's a great all-around fellow--a fellow hockey fan and politically similar to me), and my graduate school professor. I also read my boss's blog to make sure I know what's on his mind.

Sometimes--but not with those I mentioned--I read blogs with a grain of salt and tend to pay more attention to the links than the actual writing. That said, I've known some people whose writing seemed to become so much more personal and passionate--and to reveal more about themselves--once they started blogging. Hopefully I'll be able to share those too. And I hope that similar things happen with me.

So, now I'll get back to my working list of essay ideas. Watch this space because more is coming. Thanks for indulging me.

Welcome to DC Across the River!

It's a beautiful Sunday in October. In our house, we are napping, watching figure skating, and enjoying a quiet fall afternoon. Could there be a better day to start a new blog? Probably not. In fact, I'm sure thousands of other people are thinking the same thing.

This isn't my first attempt at blogging. Literally no one read the first one. This was a pre-Twitter, angrier version of myself so I won't inflict it upon you. I thought I'd like to share with people ideas that can't fit neatly into 140 characters. I'm doing this because sometimes when I'm responding to something on Twitter, I have a momentary lapse of vision, which then collapses by the time I put my blackberry down. Brevity may be the soul of wit but what we lack in this age of instant communication (and gratification) is substance and subtlety. So I'll try to expand on topics without being boring.

So, to start with, who am I?

My name is Adam. I grew up in Rockville, Maryland. I went to Walter Johnson High School (yes, named after the great pitcher for the Washington Senators). While I went to college and graduate school at Penn and Columbia, I kept returning to Washington because a) it was where my family lived and b) it was the only place where I could work at the nexus between business and public policy. I've spent time in government, non-profits and business. (Incidentally, in my blogging I'm not going to mention where I currently work, or where I've been in the past. This blog is going to be about myself and my musings, and should not reflect in any way on any organization I've been associated with profesionally.)

Earlier in my career, especially when I was studing in New York, I was enthralled by the prospect of living there and when I started my post-graduate school career ten years ago, I was disappointed that I came back to Washington. But over the years, as I've married and my family grew, I've come to love Washington for everything it is. We have glorious museums, beautiful neighborhoods and streets (even the road I take into work is gorgeous), an abundant diversity of people and opinions, a great hockey team, major league baseball and basketball (and, this season notwithstanding, football).

There's a great deal that I want to write about which I'll be sharing later. I'm looking forward to conteplating Washington from where I live across the river (literally and figuratively). So watch this space...