New Family Blog

Hey everyone! How about a new blog that everyone can write on? I invited plenty of people as authors, but disabled the blog from search engines and the blogger directory. You'll need the URL to find it.

Mostly, I wanted a blog where I could write about my non-snowboarding exploits, but I figured, 'why not let everyone write on it?' That way I can hear about your trip to Switzerland or Tennessee, keep up with the progress of your garage or your pregnancy or just see some pretty pictures you took the other day (let's try to keep the number of pictures below 10 per post, I'm looking at you Jacki =).

I must admit, motive number 2 is that I don't like wading through Facebook. Maybe I'm using it wrong. Probably, even. But it's just clunky going to the 20 people I care about most every time I'm on it. That and there are plenty of things I want to write about that seem more important than a status update.

If I'm the only one who writes on this blog, I'm fine with that. I like to write. That said, I'd love to see everyone write here free from self-consciousness about spelling, grammar and the like. Just have fun and let everyone know what you're up to. If I did it right, lots of family members should have author access to the blog. Hopefully, you can add other authors as you see fit. I know I missed some. Some because I don't know addresses, some because I have the memory of that guy in Memento. Add away.

Here's one for starters, Jackie and I went to Bellingham, Washington for New Years. Snowboarding? Yup, did that. Even got a chance to hike out of bounds for an hour for just one run. One glorious, half-hour run. My bestest Bellinghamster snowboard buddy is Martin, who I met on a trip to Baldface Lodge near Nelson, BC. Lucky I did so because Martin's an ER doc. He was sitting right next to me when I had my second seizure and had an IV in me before I even regained consciousness. He's a great friend who always welcomes me into his home.

Martin with Gracie, one of his Nigerian Pygmy goats

Speaking of welcoming, Dana and Diana Cartwright (no relation to the Bonanza Cartwrights) are the reason Jackie and I started going to Bellingham for New Years. Jackie lived with their daughter Megan throughout college at UW-Seattle. Megan moved on to additional scholastic pursuits culminating in a Ph.D. in something brainy like Astrophysics from UCLA. She now lives in Oakland with her husband, Ben, and does research at UC-Berkeley. Turns out theres a direct flight from Oakland to Bellingham. Happy coincidence. We've been Bellinghamming it up for four years now. It's a great New Years tradition. Right up there with dropping the ball, only far less crowded.