No matter. There's hope for the old dog yet, so I'm having another go with a new title, a new look, and a renewed sense of purpose.
First of all, as part of the relaunch I chose to rename the blog "Letters from Hoquessing" and to relegate my name to a mere subtitle. Take THAT, sin of vanity!
Hoquessing means "heaven" in the trade jargon of the local Lenape Indian language. It's also one letter away from Poquessing, the name of the creek that separates Philadelphia and Bucks County. I can't tell you how many hours of my childhood I spent hopping rocks in that creek, catching salamanders and crayfish and falling in love with the natural world and the biological sciences.
Heaven and earth. Past and future. Local and universal. Poetry and science. The Church and the world.
It's a nice confluence of imagery, and it seems to get to the heart of what animates my writing and, really, pretty much everything that occupies my mind these days.
I chose "Letters" mostly because it gave me some nice assonance with the short e's. That thar's some poetry, friends! But come to think of it, it also can mean intellectual pursuits and academic work...as in "a man of letters". In this age of the Intertubes, it's really pretty silly to be an author communicating ideas and NOT have a central place to post updates on new books and articles. Unless, of course, that's part of your shtick. "Love and fear me, ye lowly, for I do not NEED publicity!"
So here it is: "Letters from Hoquessing"--about a nerd from Bucks County who likes Indian languages, creeks, and religious stuff.
Sound about right for branding purposes? I like to think so.
