Having created BrownDogsBlog (named after our brown dogs, Maggie and Saffie), I am committing to actually write in it - regularly, not just a few times here and there. My intent is to use this to help process my very, very many ideas about all things, but primarily ideas connected with the book project that I'll start working on in earnest once the school year ends, and I actually can start working on said book project.

Frankly, I feel odd about this whole process. Why would anyone want to read my ideas about this process? What's the difference between keeping a blog and just writing a private journal-ish kind of thing? I've never been good at keeping journals - I think about a line in Keith Gilyard's book, _Voices of the Self_, that went something like: "Writing is like an old friend. I don't visit it often, but when I do I don't hesitate to put on it my heaviest burdens." (Keith's line is more eloquent, but that gets at the spirit of the thing). So - not only is this a sort of journal, but it's also quite public (or at least has the potential to be public, should anyone choose to read it.) Of course, all writing takes place within a context - even a journal - it's just that this one is more public. Still, it's good for me to practice the regular writing that I preach. We'll see.