I’ve tried to start blogging a few times now. Depending on who you are, you’ve likely heard me talk about it or even seen a blog start and eventually disappear when I let the domain expire. The thing is, blogging gnaws at me. I believe we should have our own corner of the internet, where our content belongs to us and isn’t controlled by social media algorithms we don’t fully understand.

For me, blogging started before the term even existed. In middle school, my friends Clare, Rachel, and David almost competed to learn HTML and create websites. This continued into high school, where I was part of the “Everything/Nothing” community, learned how to install a Content Management System (CMS), and moved away from hard-coding each entry. This entirely new platform helped me develop my interests in journalism and tech. I never expected it to be mainstream.

Fast forward to today, and many of those ideals from over 20 years ago still resonate with me. I care about independent writing, customizing a website to represent yourself, and reading what others publish. Perhaps now, more than ever, it’s important to slow down, look at a blank screen with a blinking cursor, and just write. Write to clear your head, clarify your thoughts, edit, refine, and then hit publish.

Traditionally, a commonplace book is kept in a notebook and is a collection of ideas, quotes, observations, and other things worth remembering. I still have years of Field Notes journals that capture this. Blogs gave these loosely interconnected thoughts a new space: a personal corner of the internet where links, writing, and interests could live together and evolve over time. This blog is my digital commonplace book.

Here, I’ll share links and writing about politics, technology, local (Denver) news, and other topics. What excites me most, though, is what I don’t know yet. Maybe this site will evolve into something I never expected.

In any case: Welcome, and thanks for your reading.