LONG-TIME LISTENER, FIRST-TIME CALLER

I've been reading blogs for a "long time." Of course, the medium has only existed for a short while, unless you reckon it in "internet time." Since I have usually read blogs from work, where there is a policy against posting to message boards, I have only rarely posted to a blog comments section. So I'm like a long-time listener to a radio program who has only now decided to call in. Speaking of work, I'm taking 6 months off to stay home with my son. But more on that below. One of the first blogs I remember reading is Josh Marshall's excellent Talking Points Memo, which he started during the 2000 Florida election recount. (His site has since mutated into tpmcafe.com, a sui generis site of reporting, journalism, and user commentary.) In the meantime, I've definitely spent hours and hours reading blogs, marvelling at how the medium has grown and changed. It's a far cry from the BBSes ("bulletin board systems") that I used to call with my 1200 baud modem in the 1980s. Today, my blog reading is mostly political in nature, but it's doubtful I'll blog much about politics here: that is well-covered territory. I don't do any reporting or have any inside connections with a politcal organization, so I've got nothing to add about politics except what you could find elsewhere. Instead, I will blog about my time Bringing Up Monkey. The Monkey in question is my son. He is the cutest little monkey you have ever laid eyes on. And next week begins a 6 month period in which my wife will return to work, I will stay at home, and I will cope the best I can. December 5th is the handover date. The Boy will be a week shy of 6 months. A trip to the National Zoo? I'll blog about it. The Boy learns to crawl? I'll blog about that, too. Introducing solid foods, eliminating same? Steady as she goes. The Boy discovers a lapse in childproofing? I might not mention that. I'm sure I'll figure out what this space is for as I go. Between childproofing forays, that is.