A big thank you to Colorado Jyms

For those of you paying attention, this blog is pretty new --- less than a week old. I wanted to take a moment to thank Colorado Jyms over at RANT FROM BOULDER (a.k.a. "The Rant") for bringing me into the blog brotherhood and for persuading me to get into this whole thing.

I have lots of thoughts swimming around my head these days, and I'm sure many of the readers do as well. I've been very upset and miffed about the direction this country has gone in the last 6 years, and I've been saddened by the whole scene with the environment and the runaway train it's become.

Not to wallow in a broken record of old wounds, but I think I'm still recovering from the 2004 election, as that was nothing short of a iron boot kick to the nuts, and I've been trying to get up off the floor ever since. As some of my friends on the other side of the aisle probably presume, it's not because "my guy" lost --- as Kerry was never my guy --- it's about what was at stake.

The number and weight of all the problems needing to be addressed can serve as a heavy burden at times, and it's easy to feel helpless. As The Professor Mr. Peart says, "It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit --- it's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it."

But I don't want to just bitch about things from the bleacher seats --- I want to find solutions to today's problems as well. Maybe there's some readers out there with some ideas to contribute?

Like Jyms mentioned in his blog a few days ago, I too also do this for personal reasons that involve getting my thoughts organized and out on paper. Having a forum for which to express your thoughts, frustrations, and ideas is therapeutic, and it's good to create some discussion. While the focus of this blog is environmental issues --- which will also inevitably canvass subtopics or related topics such as land use, transportation, and energy issues --- I will also make comments or post on The Rant for matters falling farther outside the environmental spectrum, as Jyms has kindly invited me to do so.

I hope that some of you readers out there catch the bug, if you haven't already, and put your passion on paper to start your own blog. I know many of you have it in you --- and like me, just need a little kick in the pants to get started.

So dust off that keyboard, and let those fingers fly! S