Salutations!

Those who know me well likely figured it was only a matter of time before I caved in and joined the millions of people worldwide who feel that their lives are sufficiently interesting and important to post their thoughts and activities online for others to read. Heck, considering how egocentric and self-centered I am, it's amazing I have held out this long! But, as it is with most of the world's modern "trends" (laptop computers, cellphones, Ipods, facebook, deodorant, showers, etc.), I always seem to be the last one to catch on. To be honest, I have actually been planning on starting a blog for a while now; however, I never could find the time due to law school, studying for the bar, watching the Tyra Banks Show, and other important commitments. Although I still am enmeshed in studying for the bar, I figured there's no time like the present, right?

Explanation

For those who have sufficient free time to paruse these pages, I guess I should explain what this blog will contain. First off, it will not be one of those christmas card type blogs explaining my wonderful family's exploits. Those who desire to see what is going on with the Purles family should check out my wife's blog at http://thejasminejournal.blogspot.com/. Jasmine has done an amazing job at keeping this blog updated and describing the events of Jasmine, myself, and our as-yet-unborn-and-unnamed child. I would never dream of replacing her in this important position and know that I would be immediately fired from the post if it were ever left to a public vote.

Instead, this blog will be exactly what the title suggests--a collection of short-lived thoughts, ideas, and opinions from yours truly. Subjects will range from movies to sports to fatherhood to swimming across the English Channel. I am a very nostalgic person who often turns inward to seek out who I am and what that reflects on the world at large. I imagine there will be several entries posted at 12:30 A.M. as my insomnia and overactive conscience cause me to wax poetically about absolutely nothing important. I will try to spare you all the most random of my thoughts, but if I find something groundbreaking, witty, or epiphanic (it's a word, I swear!), I will likely punish those who dare to venture into this blog with whatever spouts out of my mind.

Request (or plea)

Although I will be treating this blog as a journal to a limited extent, I hope that everyone will feel free to comment and add their opinions to any topic that I raise. I imagine that you will enjoy reading each other's comments far more than you will enjoy reading mine. After all, life is way too interesting to leave to my own limited insight and understanding. In the end, I am sure that I will gain more from reading your opinions than any of you will gain from mine.

Warning

I should warn any reader who does not know me well that this blog will be chock full of sarcasm and my own strange sense of humor. If you ask yourself whether I am kidding, chance are that I am. However, I hope that it will also offer some sweet and tender insights gained by a strange and somewhat dimwitted individual who is endlessly entangled in the struggle to understand the individual and his position in the world he lives in.

An important part of any blog is knowing when to cut your losses. I am absolutely certain that I could ramble on for another 15 or 20 paragraphs describing who I am and what I am up to. But hey, if I told you that right now, why would you ever come back? Instead, I will drag you along for the journey--screaming in agony during each and every step.