I haven't written on my blog forever, and definitely haven't posted a comment from it forever, but Lance was the person who convinced me to blog so signing in to Typepad feels right. After finding his blog via James Wolcott, I found a comfortable place to air my views and expand my mind. I found people there that I still count among some of my best friends. I found blogging opportunities I didn't know I needed. I miss those days. While I kept up with Lance through FB and Twitter, and even the occasional postcard, it wasn't the same. I was well aware of his challenging times. They've endured enough. I'm also grieving for the loss of a bloggerhood that was kinder than Twitter and included people with an attention span worthy of the output of people like Lance. There were so many days, so many years, where I looked forward to that long, thought-provoking, Lance post. What a loss. He was a talented man. He was a kind man. I wish him peace wherever he is. I wish him satisfaction. I wish his family peace. I can't even imagine. I wish every blogger he's helped over the years could remove a portion of their pain... of their burden.

I felt instantly confined by the notion that we are born into a world where everything was mapped out by those before us. Mmm-hmm

Also... thanks for the double linky-luv, thundra!

Do they keep zombies out too? The Zombie has actually be to this lake. I don't recall if he was in it, but his offspring was.

I was thinking while reading this that all of these could apply to painting... and then I thought they would apply to almost any creative endeavor.

While I am not a writer, I do have a "male character" that I occasionally speak for... one who interacts with a slice of the public at large... a public who generally does not know this character is voiced by a middle-aged wife/mother/artist. I interact with some of these people in other aspects of life and am totally surprised by how much credibility the character is given because these people assume he is being voiced by a male. Some of these same people don't give me the time of day as a female. My thoughts are just dismissed. It's been an interesting "aside" lesson. If I'm speaking as this character, I can get away with more, am forgiven for more, am thought to be bigger, better, stronger. It's really kind of bizarre. I'd be curious to see what reactions you get if you used a pseudonym. I bet your writing would be different as well. One brief aside, in an already windy comment... I was buying my tomboy a PT-109 boat model this past weekend and was thinking that is one area where females do catch a break. The same can't be said for most young boys who might wish to buy a Barbie.

Oh, that's so sad. What a loss.