First Real Post
This thing seems to be up and running. This is actually my second attempt at a weblog. My first appeared on my website, which I found clunky to update and a pain to deal with. Which, now that I think about it, is a fairly apt description of that entire site. So this is try two.

My goals are twofold. Jeff Grubb, a man I admire and respect in more ways than I can count, also happens to be a co-worker of mine. In a discussion about writing, we both mentioned that we kept weblogs. I used "kept" in the past tense. He explained that the blog is a great way to keep the pen sharp when not necessarily writing every day. While I have a steady diet of writing at work, it is largely technical. So, far from leaving me satisfied at the end of the day, it usually leaves me feeling somewhat drained and unwilling to work on other things (read: my fiction). So, I'm turning to this blog as a means to write something other than training manuals, responses to customer service inquiries, and announcements about the Next Big Thing at the office.

Second, the Internet offers a great many people a voice they may not otherwise have. I've taken advantage of this in the past, by (among other things) publishing a homebrewed role-playing game, kick-starting my blossoming fiction career, and taking the pulpit in my various political views. There are a lot of weblogs out there, and most of them aren't really worth reading - after all, there are only twenty-four hours in a day, and I try to spend them wisely. But at the same time, if they get a voice, then so do I. It's that simple.

So that's what I'm about. The Pirate's Log title is a longstanding running gag I've had - my website is technically called Rapp Scallion's Pirate Ship, after a character in the Monkey Island game series, and I needed some clever name to stick in that URL at the top of your browser. Given time, I probably could have chosen something better, but like many things, the utilitarian approach may be the best.

Hopefully I'll do a more insightful update tomorrow. I spent an hour looking for a restaurant tonight after my wife locked the keys out of our car, so the first part of my evening was pretty much shot. I wrote 500 words on The Crocodile Man (that's my serial novel), so I'm calling it an evening. I may write a quick review of a role-playing module for the RPG Times, but trust me when I say it's not that exciting.

What I'm reading: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
What's playing in my MP3 player: Round Here by Counting Crows
What I'd watch as a movie right now: either Se7en or From Hell