Presents of Mind

Welcome to the party. I’m celebrating otoh‘s 8th anniversary.

The very first post here on otoh, with the auspicious title of Hurricane Diaries, was on 1 September 2004. Oh, it was quite insightful:

Just a couple weeks after Charley barreled through Central Florida, Frances (bigger and badder) has us in its sites. Seems as good a time as any to finally try starting a blog.

That was a horrible year for hurricanes in Central Florida, where I was living at the time. Great year for blogs though, obviously. Three weeks later I posted the first bit of just plain word play, Ruminate on This [which I reposted yesterday because I'm lazy in celebration of the event]. In those early years I posted mostly personal observations and recorded events of the day. I didn’t post original poetry or any of what I would really call fiction until a few months later. [Side note: I didn't even explain why I called this otoh until after the first year.] The last couple years or so I’ve mostly been posting flash fiction [and the occasional interview with a vampire], but the place needs a bit of a makeover I think. Not today though.

Please come in and sit a spell. Feel free to look around if you’re so inclined. Enjoy a beverage. And pie! And cake! And chocolate! It would not be a party without chocolate. [Oh, chocolate. Come back next week and join me for a Chocolate Blog Hop!] And if you’re wondering what to get the blog that [obviously] has everything, just send good wishes and positive energy. You know, presents of mind, like it says in the title. [See what I did there?]