Hello again

So, I bought myself a pre-tariff new MacBook Pro and vowed not to let this laptop languish, ignored and abandoned, in the box for two years. That goal was achieved, with me unboxing and setting up the device a mere 10 days after receiving it.

While I have never claimed to be a great writer, it’s something I immensely enjoy. I have often said that writing is the only way I get to finish a sentence. The only person who can interrupt me is me, and even I do that often.

The second step of the laptop goal was to dust off my Scribbles from the Margen blog, which has been grossly neglected since the day I started it. I am an occasional blogger, at best, though I always have a well-populated hopper list of what I consider great topics. I have written a million columns in my mind over the years but, as you can tell by scrolling through the history of this venue, few of them ever meet the publish button.

That you are reading this is proof that I have accomplished the second phase of that goal. There’s just too much going on, both on the local and state levels, as well as the world stage, to keep all this frustration, anger, rage and puzzlement within the confines of my skull.

As always, I will pepper my diatribes with the warm and fuzzy, positive tales that defined my early journalism career. Because I made a weirdly unrelated career change from public recreation and parks to community journalism, I was more often than not assigned all the warm and fuzzy stories that could not be screwed up too badly, while my more esteemed colleagues were entrusted with the real, serious news.

In time, I embraced the warm and fuzzy beat. People get sick of all the blood and gore and enjoy reading warm and fuzzy. The W&F beat reporter is also more welcome in many places than the reporters always looking to dig up dirt.

So, I tell you all this just as a little reintroduction. I’m retired from the newspaper business; my last byline appeared six and a half years ago, already. Writing is a creative outlet for me, as well as a way of unburdening myself.

I vow to write here more often. There are several good stories to tell about the Greater Dundalk community that are timely and cannot sit much longer. It's been a rough couple weeks in the community, with the sad losses of two prominent business owners — Costas Triantafilos, beloved owner of Costas Inn, and Colt Connelly, owner of Connelly Funeral Home of Dundalk.

In the next several days, I will pay tribute to each man and will encourage community members to record their memories of each.

And of course, I have a mile-long list of what I will politely refer to as current event topics. The world is spinning out of control, with the U.S. sadly in the driver’s seat and I have a few things to say about that.

So, if you’re still here, thanks for reading, and I promise I’ll see you soon!