Katdish.net

On April 30, 2008 I began my maiden voyage into the blogosphere with the following statement:

“I’m not really sure what this blog is going to be about. But I’ve found myself writing really long comments on other people’s blogs, so I figured I’d start my own and not subject anyone to my rambling commentaries unless they really want to read them.”

Since I had no real defined goal or purpose for this this blog, I thought I would steal a line from a favorite t-shirt:

“People say I have ADD. They just don’t understand…Hey look, a chicken!

And while I feel “Hey Look a Chicken” was a perfect title for my meandering ramblings, this blog has become more than that. I began to take things a bit more seriously. Not myself, of course (well, mostly not myself), but the influence I have on others.

Whoa! I know that sounds like an incredibly arrogant thing to say. I don’t mean it to be. But here’s the thing–all of us have a certain degree of influence. The more influence we have, the greater the sense of responsibility we feel. Unless, of course, you’re a professional athlete, but I digress…

What started out as a hobby blog has turned into so much more to me. It’s a meeting place, a conversation place, a place to vent, to ramble and to encourage. It’s also become a place to share the spotlight with others much more talented than yours truly.

So, it’s time to say goodbye to Hey Look a Chicken and tidy up a bit. To facilitate a cleaner, more professional yet still katdishy appearance, my geeky guru Peter Pollock has been hard at work on my brand spanking new website. A calmer, less distracting website where the writing is highlighted instead of all the stuff in the sidebars. (As an aside, I’m really hoping to find a place for Awesome Cat, because he is, after all, AWESOME!)

The content will remain much the same. You’ll still find a post by Billy Coffey on Mondays and I will continue to introduce (and re-introduce) other writers on Wednesdays. And yes, I still reserve the right to be completely random and ridiculous the rest of the week. Or serious, if the mood strikes.

I’m packing up my stuff and “moving to the light” as Peter refers to it. (“It” being a WordPress blog.)

Thank you all so much for your continued support and encouragement. I hope to see you at the new place:

katdish.net

What is your blog about?

Assuming you have a blog, how often have you been asked that question? My answer usually goes something like this: “Um, well, that’s sort of hard to explain. It’s sort of like talking to me, without so many random obscure references to subjects we’re not even discussing.

Also, while writing, I’m not distracted by blank stares or someone constantly interrupting with questions pertaining to what on God’s green earth I’m talking about. Seriously, my blog is about about thoughts and commentary from my ADD mind. At least, that’s how it started out. But I was reading an old book by Robert Fulghum called “It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It” that sums it up much better in the introduction:

Show and Tell was the very best part of school for me, as a student and as a teacher. Not recess or lunch, but that special time set aside each week for students to bring something important to class to share and talk about.

As a kid, I put more into getting ready for my turn to present than I put into the rest of my homework. Show-and-Tell was real in a way that much of what I learned in school was not. It was education that came out of my life experience. And there weren’t a lot of rules about Show-and-Tell — you could do your thing without getting red-penciled or gonged to your seat.

As a teacher, I was always surprised by what I learned from these amateur hours. A kid I was sure I knew well would reach down into the paper bag he carried and fish out some odd-shaped treasure and attach meaning to it beyond my most extravagant expectation. It was me, the teacher, who was being taught at such moments.

Again and again I learned that what I thought was only true to me…only valued by me…only cared about by me…was common property.

Show-and-Tell was a bit disorderly and unpredictable. What the presentations lacked in conventional structure was compensated for by passion for the subject at hand.

The principles guiding this [blog] are not far from the spirit of Show-and-Tell. It is my stuff from home — that place in my mind and heart where I most truly live.

And so, to my old friends and new; to my lurkers and my prolific commenters; to those of you whose blogs I read on a regular basis and others I check in on from time to time — Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to share my stuff and for sharing your stuff with me. Thank you for allowing me to be silly, sarcastic, serious, sappy, self-righteous, and a bunch of other “S” words. I’m a better writer, listener and dare I say better person for the experience.

This is not a “Goodbye Hey Look a Chicken” post. Just a “Thanks for the Memories So Far” post.

I’m not really sure what this blog is going to be about. But I’ve found myself writing really long comments on other people’s blogs, so I figured I’d start my own and not subject anyone to my rambling commentaries unless they really want to read them.

Since my walk with Jesus is what’s on my heart and mind most of my waking moments, (okay, that’s what SHOULD be on my heart and mind most of my waking moments), I will probably blog about this often. But I’m also a painter and mural artist. So I’ll probably post some pictures of recent work and give some painting how to’s as well. And, oh yea, I’m also part of a core group that’s planting a church! I’m sure I’ll blog about that a bunch!

I guess my blog entries will be very much like my thoughts: A series of seemingly unrelated post-it notes of thoughts and commentaries from my overloaded ADD mind… “Hey look, a chicken!”