Hello Friend –
I’m not sure what twist of fate landed you into this awkward blog but I am glad you are here and I hope you find something that makes your stay worthwhile. This blog is a journey we will take together – like a Sunday drive to nowhere; we will put the top down enjoy the scenery and see where the winding roads take us.
Why a blog?
That’s actually a very good question.
Blogging today seems to be one of two things:
- Corporate blogs promoting a company’s brand as a means to engage with customers and sell more product.
- Self-proclaimed subject-matter experts teaching a niche topic and using their abilities to jockey SEO rankings to drive traffic to their blog which is heavily laden with advertising.
Before these days of monetizing the blog, there was simply the “personal blog” format where the author journals the details of their life for the world to read. Unless the blogger is a celebrity, a personal blog runs the risk of not being interesting to anyone except the author (and most likely the author’s mother).
I’m really not a subject-matter expert on anything in particular… so you aren’t going to see any blog titles similar to the following coming from me:
- “Learn how to brine your Thanksgiving turkey”
- “Avoid saying these 10 things in your next job interview”
- “See how to replace the starter on your ATV” – although I have actually done that.
Since I’m no subject matter expert and I’m not getting paid the big bucks to be here by some Fortune 500 company… it leaves us in that awkward “personal blog” space. That seems about right…huh?
So the question remains… why a blog?
The answer to that is mainly that I need a change of pace.
Ever since the mid-’90s when I started my computer science degree my life has been technology focused however there has always been a desire bubbling under the surface to “build something” and explore my creative side.
Prior to college, I enjoyed reading and writing but leisure reading was replaced with technical manuals and software programming guides and creative writing was replaced with requirements specifications and lines of code.
So today… at 44 years of age I have decided to take a leap of faith and share with the world my creative concept of “The Awkward Man”.
This is a journey of creativity, self-discovery and sharing. I feel that a blog is the best way to start this journey and will allow me to evolve the concept along the way, control the “branding” of the concept and discover if the message resonates with anyone.
What can you expect?
You can expect that this will not simply be me journaling the days of my middle-aged life.
Some posts will be the musings of an awkward mid-40’s dad who is grappling with the fact that time is marching on and his kids are now teenagers.
Some posts may be creative writing as I explore my creative side and rekindle my passion for writing that I enjoyed so much in my high school English and creative writing courses.
Some posts may be opinions of current events and politics… however I’ll generally steer clear of politics given the toxic downwards spiral most political discussions end up.
Some posts may be related to music, books, or movies that I have something to say about.
Some posts may just simply be something funny that I’ve found or observed and want to share.
So let’s back this blog out of the driveway, put it in “Drive” and head for the blue highways. As with any road trip, there are sure to be some points of interest where we learn something new, some long stretches of blacktop that may test our patience, and hopefully some unexpected fun surprises.
Yours Truly.
