Pollyanna

It's been more than half a year since I blogged here. Wow. I've become just another one of thousands of stale, outdated blogs cluttering up cyberspace. Have I nothing to say? No, I don't think that's it. I've never been one to lack an opinion, and I've recently blogged on my travel site. Have I not had any "impressions" worth recording in the past six months? That's hardly it either. A month after that last posting was published, I moved from northern Virginia to New York City, the country's largest and possibly most dynamic city. Two months after moving, I was laid off from AOL. So there has certainly been no shortage of "impressions" (both good and bad). If I sit here and think about it, I conclude that maybe I've just felt burned out. In earlier times, I felt inspired and motivated to offer commentary about political and social issues. But in recent years, I have felt increasingly cynical and disillusioned with the state of things, so when I consider commentating on this or that topic, I often ask myself "What's the point?" The web is littered with opinions of all shapes and sizes: well-reasoned and irrational, respectful and offensive, idealistic and jaded. What's one voice amidst the cacophony? What does one man's "impression" matter? I still feel that way, especially during this election season, but that doesn't mean this is my farewell posting. Rather, this posting is my farewell to all things political and social (with a flash of the middle finger instead of a tip of the hat). I will continue to offer up my impressions, but will instead focus on the lighter side of life: travel, recreation, leisure, sports, the great outdoors, the simple things in everyday life (but, in this new era of paparazzi-journalism-gone-mainstream, I will stay away from entertainment). Back in the 1990s, my friend David responded to some Clinton-era political controversy by calling himself a Pollyanna, telling me he preferred to focus on things like sports, "where all things are possible." Too bad it's taken me 10 years to come to that same wisdom myself.