35 in 10 days

I think it's 10 days. April 2. I don't know. I've never been good at math.

I've never been good at keeping blogs, either. I've tried it about three times, so I already can't vouch for what you'll find or won't find, the quality or quantity of the writing, or how long I'll keep this going. Like journals, like writing projects I start and don't finish, or ones that make it through a first draft but abandoned in the second or third...I can't tell you about the ride you're going to go on other than you'll go on it with me.

Online writing is for people who are organized. I am not. I am just awful at categorizing. I do have a file cabinet, for example, but it is overflowing. It hides mess--as long as I don't open it. It is more like a piling cabinet than a filing cabinet.

Online writing is for people who are brief. I am not. I am long-winded, an overexplainer, and often suffer from verbal diarrhea. I'll write a 30-minute long speech, no problem, but ask me to write an ad and I freeze. It shows in the copy, too.

I've had this blog for months now, but this is my first post. (Duh. That's probably obvious by the fact that it's on the bottom. Or wherever blogspot puts this eventually.)

The purpose of starting this blog is this:

I turn 35 in April. 35 is my lucky number. This means good things.

It also means that I will try something new, once a month, for each month. I can't try 365 different things; I have a job. (I actually have a few jobs, but who's counting.) 35 things is a lot to bite off (and chew). It may turn out that I try 35 (or more) different things in the course of doing 12, but I think one a month will do me good.

It will also allow me the time to learn about and deal with all my feares, neuroses, and research.

I haven't laid out all 12 things yet. That's because I don't know them. Here are a few, in no particular order; although I will dedicate one per month, I'm not sure where to start.

• Eat meat
• Learn to ride a bike
• Travel to Japan (this is a gimme; we're already going this spring)

...and much, much more. I'm open to suggestions, too.

The purpose of continuing this blog is TBD. I'll see how long it can carry on. Maybe that's one of my 12 tries--to keep this going for a year.

I'll probably post about other things that happen throughout the year; that's usually what happens when I start blogs.

The thing is, who are you talking to? Blogging, to me, is a whole lot of "is this thing on?". You can only say so much online because, say you direct people to it, you know you can't talk about them then, and whoever comes upon this...I don't know.

First blog posts are always so awkward, aren't they? That ... digital throat-clearing, I guess. I like to go to some of my favorite blogs and read the first post.

So right now, this is the pilot to a series that is looking like it won't get beyond the first 13- episode-order. But hey, I got 12 tries--I'm already ahead of myself.

More to come as I get closer to my birthday.