A new challenge

This above all: to thine own self be true.

One of my favorite quotes.

I've been taking some time off-line to pursue a new career path, and it has left me very little time for recreational writing. While the work I've been doing has been interesting and rewarding, there's been a component of self-expression missing that I am itching to return to.

I've discovered that even when your plate is full to overflowing, it's still possible for there to be a void. That empty spot is the one where my "writing just for the sake of it" used to be. The time has come to fill it again.

So, I've decided to challenge myself this year. I'm going to write something every day for the next 365 days. It won't be easy--I have a full-time job, kids to raise, and some trips coming up with no internet access--but I'm going to give it a shot and see it where it takes me. I have a friend who is doing a similar challenge with his photography, taking a "Photo a Day" and posting it on Facebook. Some days, the photos are just pleasant, some days, they're absolutely brilliant. I'm sure he finds it a grind sometimes, but there have been those moments when he captures something truly unique and unexpected. Those are the ones that keep you going.

Day 1. So far so good.


cartoon by John Jonick, The New Yorker

The Gores Separate. Oh. My.

News outlets are reporting that former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper are separating after 40 years of marriage. The official explanation is that they "grew apart."

While the part of me that adores all things Al is not exactly in mourning over this latest development, the rational part of me can't help but wonder: why now?

In my experience, long-time married couples tend to grow apart right around the 20 year mark, when their kids are teens and heading off to college, and they suddenly realize they don't have much to talk about anymore.

Forty years of marriage means going through so much together: births, deaths, health scares, family troubles, weddings, birthday milestones, successes, failures, children, grandchildren, etc.

I'm not exactly complaining that the object of my long-held adoration is suddenly making a new life for himself, but the timing seems really odd.

Yes, I want him to be happy, but if he takes up with some young thang like Kate Hudson or Megan Fox in the months to come, I'm selling my copy of An Inconvenient Truth on eBay.