"Allow myself to introduce myself..."

My name is Scott Spielman. Welcome and thanks for reading.

I am going to keep this introductory entry a little short, mostly because it is Sunday afternoon and my 'to do' list from yesterday is still only half done. I will keep it simple and mention a few things to keep in mind if you feel like keeping up, sharing, or following this blog.

First of all, even though I was a newspaper editor for more than a dozen years, I was never too keen on editing my own stuff. Most of what you will read will fall under the category of the title of my very first newspaper column: "Off the Cuff." So most of what you will read is a first draft, without too much thought put into it (as many of you who knew me from those days were often kind enough to point out.)

Second, the topics I will cover will vary--anything from local and national politics, to the comic book industry, 'life as I know it,' faith, writing, or whatever else comes to mind. Eventually I will link up the fiction stories that have been gathering an impressive number of rejection slips, too. Many of the titles will be inspired by--if not outright stolen--from song titles, lyrics or movie quotes.

Third, feel free to post any comments you have--as long as they're civil. As I always pointed out to my newspaper readers, it's fine to disagree as long as you avoid name calling and profanity and all that.

Fourth...fourthly? Hmm. I'll have to break out my old style books on that one. Anyway, why write a blog, and why now? Well, although a few of you have mentioned that you miss my old one (and by that, I mean two people have), the real answer to that is: why not? That, and, well, perhaps you can answer that by applying something I've noticed at karaoke events, in general. Once some people have a microphone, they're not always eager to give it up--no matter how well suited they are to using it in the first place.

Okay, that's all for now. It's getting late and this house isn't going to clean itself. Thanks for checking in and I hope to hear from you.

--Scott