Rant #2,145: The Long and Winding Road

I didn't even realize it myself, but on May 4, 2018, the Ranting and Raving Blog reached its ninth anniversary.

It came by so fast that it simply passed me by.

I have been a writer for over 30 years, writing for a variety of topics, everything from real estate to security to show business to military resale.

I have also written for pleasure, and honestly, this is what this blog is all about.

I make my living writing about what my employer wants me to write about, which is currently military commissaries (supermarkets) and exchanges (department stores). It is a multi-billion-dollar market that few outside of the military know about, and it is currently going through some major changes as budgets stiffen and people in Washington look to save rather than spend.

Whatever the case, that is what I write about, and it puts bread on the table.

But it also stifles my creativity. And when a writer has his creativity stifled, that writer really is "no good" anymore.

So I started this blog to recharge my engines, allowing me to write about what I want to write about when I want to write about it.

I don't make a cent from this blog, but it goes well beyond the monetary aspect: this blog is just so much fun to do, and it really allows me to stretch myself a bit.

Like yesterday, I wrote about the present situation in the Middle East. Another day, I have written about how I hate to wear a tie. Still another day, I have written about looking back 50 years to a different time and different place in my life--and all of our lives.

I don't have a huge audience here. Unlike some other bloggers, I really don't need to have thousands of people reading what I say. I am quite satisfied with the dozens that I do have. I don't advertise this blog at all, except on Facebook, which has become a necessary evil. I put up what I write there, so it cuts down on how many people actually come to the blog site, but that is fine. I am not looking for numbers. If you want to read what I have to say, fine; if not, that is fine too.

I know I have infuriated people at times by what I have written here, and at other times, I have pleased people, too. I have learned that you can have it both ways, as long as you stay true to what you believe in.

Look, this is all fun. At the end of the day, I know I have given you, my readers, at least a half-way decent column for you to spend a few minutes reading during your busy day.

I don't profess to hit a home run every time out, and I know that I don't.

Heck, people will complain that this very column that I am writing now is grandstanding, patting myself on the back, and is something that they could have lived without.

That is fine. If you know me, you know that I am big on birthdays and anniversaries, so this is what you are going to get today; heck, I am upset with myself that I missed the actual date of the anniversary!

But that being said, let's take a short look back on some other topics I have written about on May 4, the actual anniversary of this blog.

On May 4, 2015, I wrote "All Day Sitting," where I talk about how I sit all day as the days pass me by;

On May 4, 2016, I wrote "Monkeeing Around," about the re-emergence of the Monkees with their then-new album "Good Times!";

On May 4, 2017, I wrote "Here Comes the Judge," about the Yankees' then-rookie phenom, Aaron Judge.

I could have looked back further, and you would have found a pretty good mix of stuff, everything from sports, to movies, to TV, to politics to really, the condition of the human condition, to use a phrase that cuts across a wide swath of topics.

So let me leave you today with an apology, for not acknowledging this anniversary nearly two weeks ago when I should have; and a vow, that I will continue to write this blog, through thick and thin, and try to give you food for thought each and every weekday.

Tally-ho, and away we go!