I've been asked a couple of times why I would want to maintain a blog.  Well the short (and seemingly rude/snobbish/whatever you would like to call it) answer is that it's for me, not really for anyone (which currently I don't believe that there are any) reading this. Now let me explain (this is where you get the long answer). I'm not trying to scare any potential readers away, in fact you're welcome to read what I write at anytime.  I wouldn't have started doing this in such a public forum if I didn't mind others reading what I write. The fact is that some of my worst subjects in school had to do with writing.  I suffered through English as best I could, but my interests were always elsewhere.  Spelling and Reading were always fun, but I wasn't interested in anything else and my grades reflected it.  As a result, I rely heavily on Spell and Grammar Check. I was the kind of student (High School and College) that cranked out a paper in one draft.  Not that I was that good, but because I didn't care and didn't like the entire process.  That was several years ago, I'm now more mature and hopefully more patient. I did have one time that I can remember where I was able to produce a good paper.  It was my Sophomore year in High School.  We had just finished reading parts of Don Quixote which is one of my favorite stories.  I'm actually listening to the soundtrack as I type this. Our assignment was to rewrite the ending.  My family had spent some time in Southern California a year or so before this assignment.  My story involved Don Quixote and Sancho Panza going through a time warp that took them to the back lot of Universal Studios.  As they approached a lake the waters parted (10 Commandments) and as they made it to the other side a shark (Jaws) "attacked".  In true Don Quixote fashion he drew his sword and boldly attacked the beast.  Needless to say he and Sancho were electrocuted and died there on the back lot in modern times.  Grim I know, but I had to find a way to end the story. A few days after turning in the paper to my English teacher, I walked into her classroom, she looked at me and yelled "You" pointing at me, surprising myself and the rest of the students in the room.  I was sure that I was in some serious trouble.  She then went on to say how fantastic my paper was and wanted me to read it in front of the class.  Embarrassed and shy I refused, so someone else read my story to the entire class. When she returned the story my grade was an A+ the only one that I earned in my entire career as a student.  I saved the paper and have it around the house somewhere.  Maybe someday I'll get brave and post it here. Fast forward to present day, I've been thinking a lot about writing my personal history and of going back to school for a Masters.   I know that I need to greatly improve my writing abilities before I even attempt to start either.  There are also several other little projects that I'd like to attempt.  So there you have it, that's why I started this little project.