Well, it has been a long time since I last sat down and wrote anything. Really, I can’t think of anything that I could say that I wrote. It’s been over 7 years since I posted words for the blog and I might as well give it a go.

Lewis Lapham died last week. He was the Editor Emeritus of Harpers Magazine. Bill and I met him in October 2005 at the Society for Ethical Culture. Lewis Lapham gave me the idea for this blog. He mentioned that certain writers would have a method of writing daily. Some would do this, some would do that.

It struck a nerve and a few days later I started writing at least 500 words a day. It was an easily attainable goal, mostly. I mentioned it to my friend Rand, who suggested writing a blog so these wayward words would have a place to go and maybe some other people would read it. So Rand hooked me up with this here blog.

So from October 2005 to sometime in 2013, I wrote daily. At first, it was 7 days a week, then I made it 6 days, opting to take Sundays off. And I got in trouble a couple of times with what I wrote. Some people suggested that I don’t write about my job but if I write about my day, and a good chunk of that day is spent at a job, I don’t see how I could not write about it.

What I wrote did not make them look good but I wasn’t writing for them. And if things were rosy then perhaps I would write about that. The last gig I got fired from, at least one of the reasons why I was fired was because they thought I was writing this blog on a smartphone and I am simply not coordinated enough to do such a thing. My thumbs would give out.

So you can thank to blame Lewis Lapham for the https://johnozed.com

I am returning to work tomorrow after being off of holiday since July 27. Bill and I went as they say in New Jersey, ‘down the shore’ We’ve been going to Ocean Grove for years, since 2017. We did not go in 2020 due to the pandemic and 2023 was a washout due to other things like money.

Not having a chance to get out of town was troubling so it was imperative that we got the hell out of Dodge for at least a few days, Sunday to Wednesday. We had previously gone down on a Friday and left on Monday but we found it cheaper to go on Sunday to get those weekday rates. It was certainly less crowded. I enjoyed the fewer people but sort of missed the hustle & bustle.

Bill is great at planning things like transportation so all I have to do is follow. We both enjoyed the water and the quietness. Tomorrow I go back to a job that I once liked working at.

C’est la vie.