I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out just what I want this site to be. I feel like it's a huge decision - once I publish this first entry, it sets the tone for what people should expect every time I post on the site.

Essentially I'm establishing an identity for the site...and once you do that, it's not something that's easily changed.

Believe me. I know.

I feel like I've spent a good part of my life trying to figure out who I am.

The early years were kind of a mess. Grade school, middle school, even into high school - I don't have very many distinct memories of my school life those years. I got along really well with my family, but I wasn't the most social person.

That changed a bit in college. I moved away from home, met lots of new people, and made a very conscious decision to be more like the person I was around my family than I had been in school to that point. It didn't happen overnight, but it worked. I think I was more likable, and I know I enjoyed myself more.

I carried this 'college persona' into my working life immediately following college. That working life was as a news writer and sports producer - working at a TV station (3, to be precise) lends itself to that kind of personality.

But I've since changed careers, and that slowly morphed into this third phase of identity, in which I currently find myself. Let's call it adulthood.

I now fully recognize that I am an adult. Maybe it started when I began teaching - 8 years ago. Maybe it was when I got married - also 8 years ago. Or maybe it's being a dad to three girls - aged 5, 3, and 8 months.

I'm finding some overlap between my past and current identities. For example, I'm back at square one in terms of the fact that the people I'm closest with are once again my family. The difference is that now I'm the parent in the family rather than the kid. I'm also finding that some of the same personality traits that I adopted in college work with the kids - much like some of the people I worked with when I was in my 20s, my kids think I'm hilarious.

So. Is this it? Is there another identity change on the horizon? I don't know. I'm hoping that by the time you read this I have either performed or come close to performing some stand-up comedy, and that will become part of my identity moving forward.

But I do feel like the launching of this site is the beginning of a new chapter. I hope you'll come back often. I hope you'll use the comments to turn this into a discussion. I hope I'll make you laugh. I hope this site takes you inside my mind - because there's a lot going on in there that I think I want to share with you.

At least until my daughters reach an age when they can find this site and read it. Then we might have to reconsider things.