. . . and thanks for all the fish!

When I was a child, I remember my grandfather telling me, "Johnny, go on and get out of here, now!" He always smelled like old cigarettes and cheap whiskey. And he read paperback westerns.

When I was a little older, I had a crush on my fourth grade teacher. I used to hang out near her on the playground and stay after school to help tidy up the classroom. One day, she looked at me and said (and I'll never forget this), "You know, I could squash you like a bug."

As a result, I learned early and frequently not to over-stay my welcome. But the timing is crucial. You have to get people familiar enough with your antics to be mildly amused, or perhaps entertained, without rousing that "Oh, it's you again" look. I seldom get it right.

Today is the one year anniversary of Escape Velocity. When I started blogging a year ago, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it. I did have a couple of goals for myself, though. I wanted to develop the discipline of writing every day. Between this blog and other projects I have written well over 600 pages this past year. I also wanted to try a few different writing styles and techniques which I have accomplished with varying degrees of success.

However, I didn't realize at the time how much of myself I would put into the project. Both in personal discipline and my own inner psyche. I have never been to therapy, having slipped through the official crack of "offender" status, but I now see the benefit of "spilling your guts." It is cathartic.

And I never missed a day. There were times that I would look back and wonder at how I had found enough to write about for four months straight and how could I possibly find enough to say for another eight months? But, for 365 days, every single day, no matter what was going on in my life, hung over or clear headed, fit or hurting, I wrote.

I wrote about things that amused me and things that annoyed me. I told stories of the old west and the far flung reaches of space. I exercised and exorcised demons. I tried my hand at drama, poetry, whimsy, humor and outright lunacy. I adopted various voices and personae. And, through it all, I had fun.

I hope you did, as well.

What is the future for Escape Velocity? I honestly cannot say. I do know I won't be posting every day. I have been putting my novel off for too long already and I need the daily discipline I have developed here to see it through. Unfortunately, I don't have time for both.

But I am not leaving. I will still be an occasional visitor to these pages (like many of you). And I will have things to say. I have a feeling I'll be leaving for a long time.

So, before you can say, "Johnny, go on and get out of here," I will probably be back. But not for long because you "could squash me like a bug" after all.

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This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. It is, instead, the end of the beginning

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