So I'm feeling a little (ok - a LOT) blue tonight. Lonely, overwhelmed, etc. Its hard to have to measure out the things you hold dearest in small portions. But I remember this: The things that seem terrible today can turn out to be quite hilarious with time. A great woman (Phyllis Diller) reminds us that "humor arises out of tragedy." To illustrate ...

When I was a small lass, I would amuse myself by throwing my barbies up against the fence. Yes, I know, I was a strange child - but that is beside the point. I would swing on the swing (my truest friend) and throw them, watching the dolls whack up against the fence. It was quite thrilling to see.

Well, one day I underestimated myself, and Astronaut Barbie sailed right over the fence. Yes, indeed. Now, this might not sound so terrible, but what you don't know is that the neighbors had two dogs. Not sweet, little puppy dogs, but BIG watch dogs.

They went up to Astronaut Barbie (who, by the way, was my favorite Barbie ever because she had curly hair), sniffed her, and then proceeded to pull out her arms, legs, and hair. Yes, soon her lovely, golden curls were laying in little tufts all over the neighbor's yard. They chewed her arms and legs up to a ragged mess. This is still quite vivid in my mind 10+ years later.

And so, Astronaut Barbie was no more. She had, literally, been eaten by dogs.

Now, see, the thing is, at the time, this was quite a tragedy for a young girl. You just don't get over your favorite Barbie doll being eaten in front of your very eyes too easily. It takes a long time before you stop missing pretending to send Astronaut Barbie to the moon. But, in the end, what was once a bitter tragedy becomes a delicious anecdote.

I must keep my chin up. What seems hard and troublesome now wont always be. I must dry my tears and smile, for life is only as bad as your point of view. Things are dreary now, but you never know what's just around the bend. After all, the hardest part of the race is when the finish line is in sight. I'll make it; I think I am nearly there.

I like photography. Yes indeed. I shoot with a Nikon.

Starting a blog is, at first glance, an incredibly easy thing to do. The internet is available to any guy and his pet garter snake these days (thus the reason why we have so many blogs about the daily adventures of some guy's pet garter snake that no one cares about). Anyone who wants to can whip out a blog.

So to speak.

Take a thoughtful person like myself, however, who likes things to be just so and you run into numerous setbacks.

First of all, you have to consider where to blog. You google "free blogs" first to see what you can get for nothing, and then look at a few paid alternatives just for comparison. Once you have decided to go with a free blog, your choices have narrowed, but not much. Finally, you pick a blogging platform that is visually attractive and has an easy way to connect with other bloggers.

Then comes the choosing of the screen name. You sit there, staring at the blank space where the name you Cannot Change has to be entered. You try not to panic as nothing witty or unique comes to mind. After about five minutes you finally settle on using your name because anything else you've thought of is too corny, too general, or too long to be useful.

Then you must come up with a title. This process is much like that of picking a screen name. Eventually you can't sit there any longer, anxious to being typing up your first scathingly brilliant post, so you pick a mediocre title, reminding yourself that, unlike the screen name, you can change it later once you've had time to think up something witty.

After that you have to decide on a layout. It can't be too masculine, too feminine, too cute, too boring, too seasonal, too white, too blank, too bold, too subtle, too themed, too old, too young, too common, or too unusual. It takes a great deal of time (and disappointment until you realize you can turn off the premium layouts) to go through all the available choices. You finally settle on a layout that, while its nice, doesn't leave you feeling entirely satisfied.

By this time, your enthusiasm is starting to dwindle. You pop a few trite sentences into the "About Me" section. The thought of filling in the "movies" and "music" section cross your mind, but seeing as how you have so many favorites you decide to hold off on that at present.

Finally you settle down to write your wonderful, glittering, scintillating first blog entry -- and then you realize you don't care anymore. You shoulders are aching, you are still awake at an incredibly late hour, and sleep is taking your eyelids hostage. But you just can't leave that blog you slaved so long over blank. You have to type out something. So you quickly write down a few sentences about why you started to blog and how much you like to read. Then, you fall into bed -- exhausted, but pleased that you now have a place to write your musings.