The past few weeks have been very sparse in terms of posts. Bottom line: after a court date next week–civil court, rather than criminal–I’ll share the appropriate details and publish a lot more frequently. Till then, it will remain an unspoken hiatus of sorts around here.

Personal details being what they are, I’ve still held back way more than is really necessary because of the outstanding litigation. Which was a decision–reasonable though it was–that ultimately contributed to far fewer site updates. I’ve always strived to inject a sense of humanity into the site, and demonstrate that I do something besides read and write constantly. Hence entries about skydiving and Krav Maga. Even those type of entries all but disappeared.

But the silence. The path to it started innocently enough. Months ago, I posted a minor detail here that upset the other party in the lawsuit. It had very little to do with the legal matter itself. But by mentioning that the case existed, I made the situation more “public”, which in turn offended them. The infrequent correspondence turned non-existent.

From a financial standpoint, such a standoff becomes expensive as without communication, it takes longer to reach a settlement. And that’s the desired end in any legal proceeding: to get out fast while spending the absolute minimum on court fees and lawyers. Because if there’s anything more onerous than courts, it’s lawyers and their perpetual machine billing mechanisms. If they can dream of way to invoice, they will.

So I squelched the next entry that I planned, one which had a tiny reference to the case. That initial omission led to not mentioning other situations going on in my life, which had absolutely nothing to do with the case, but again, might ruffle some feathers and protract the matter–the last thing I wanted. Eventually I posted less and less.

Soon it seemed there was an ever growing list of issues that could be construed as sensitive and I found myself not really wanting to blog at all. Actually, I found myself not really wanting to write about anything, either. It was stifling.

And it was entirely my decision. Whether it was necessary, I think perhaps, though I took it to extremes. Still, the initial choice seemed like the right one at the time.

So I’m making another choice. More details will follow after the court date next week.

Two good friends left for a new life in Chicago today, and I feel like my dog–who has long since passed–died all over. Although it’s been a mere few hours, and I joined them for breakfast before they piled into the Penskie truck, bound for Route 80, I miss them fiercely.

Back in college, a professor once made an offhand statement that at last made sense to me today. As people age. their friendships are less superficial, and more relationships of consequence. For no matter how close someone was with their fraternity brothers or sorority sisters, or high school buddies, odds are the friends they make and keep after graduation–the ones who matter–have far more influence on their life. Even if years pass between meetings.

So to Jamee and Mario: You both deserve all the success in the world, and best of luck with your move, your new jobs, your new life.

We will meet again.

Much like Krav Maga, the first rule of this site is that there are no rules; if a topic intrigues me, I hope that it might interest someone else and I’ll jot an entry. Or I’ll try one out, anyway. Quite a few entries are stuck in draft limbo right now, awaiting revisions. Regardless, if an entry goes over well once in the wild, I might consider another one about the same subject. That being said, there is an unwritten–and unspoken, until now–rule: To avoid discussing politics.

I have a few reasons. For starters, political issues have a frightfully short shelf life. One year’s million persons march is next year’s thousand person tailgate party. As interest in the topic fades, so does the relevance of entries about that issue. Not that I’m going for immortality with a blog, but among the hundreds of entries on the site, it is nice to have at least a few are worth reviewing at a later date.

Another rationale for the blackout is a reflection of my interest level in the subject. Which varies between low to non-existent. I consider myself a particularly apolitical critter. When it comes to matters largely out of my control, I lose interest quickly. True, in high school, I attended a peace rally and signed a petition, but that had a lot more to do with the fact my girlfriend at the time was passionate about the issue. Certainly I was just as passionate about her joining me in the back seat of a Crown Victoria.

More importantly, for the past twenty years, presidential races have been extremely close matches. When the final votes are counted, the split of votes between the challengers can number in the mere thousands. Razor thin margins at the voting booth could mean a lot of things. Perhaps the candidates appear so similar voters have trouble separating them. Maybe the platforms fail to inspire the fiery sentiments that drive hordes of people to the ballots. In light of these uber-tight races, it seems there are better explorations than temporary diversions that might incite 1/2 of the population.

Mostly I’ve stuck with the above principles. Over the past four years on the site, only one entry contains a political reference–and that was pretty vague. Something about a ketchup bottle, I recall.

In the end, no matter how much television coverage the buildup to an election nets, long before the keys to the kingdom actually change hands, journalists move on to the next big thing. Which is what I’m about to do.

And so my comment about politics–the second ever on this site–is that I have . . . no comment. 😉