Welcome to Michael’s blog, reborn!

Posted 10 April 2013

I started this blog a bit over six years ago, when I left Adobe to figure out what was next.

In the first few years, I wrote a hundred or so posts, mostly technical. For the past few years, I’ve managed only a few posts a year, mostly about events I or my family am involved in.

What’s a blog good for, anyway?

Personal blogging is sort of an odd beast. Back in the day, it was de rigueur for anyone serious about having an online presence. Today, it has been largely overtaken by Facebook updates and tweets, or Stack Overflow and Github for developers, while multi-author "blogs" have turned into online magazines.

I’ve never been able to sustain any frequency of social media updates for more than a few days, being more drawn to long-form pieces and lacking the urge to tell everyone where I went for lunch. So a blog, while out of vogue these days, is a better fit for me.

So, why?

Which brings me to why — who am I writing for, and for what purpose?

I never quite figured that out in this blog’s early years, but I had some ideas. I wanted to try being more public, and see what became of that. I wanted to share some the things I was learning, and some of the things I’ve learned and done in the past. And I wanted there to be a way for potential business partners or other colleagues to be able to check me out.

As my startup, Webvanta, became ever more all-consuming, and my personal life became busier and more complicated, I just didn’t find the time to write.

Changes

The past year has been the most challenging of my life in many ways.

In the fall, we sold the West County country property where we’d lived for 22 years and moved into town (Sebastopol). Sorting through and packing up a collection of stuff that spans raising two kids, building three businesses, and enjoying a couple of large-scale hobbies literally took all my time for more than a year.

We gave away vast amounts of stuff, sold a few things, and still have a storage unit full of boxes. But we are, at last, minimally settled into our new house.

Just a week after moving the house, we moved our office. This was a great move, to a wonderful space for Webvanta, but it neverthless added another layer of craziness to an already hectic life.

The end of a generation

Last November 6, my step-father, Ray Zager, died of a stroke. After a month, it became evident that my 92-year-old mom could no longer live on her own. So right after moving our office, we moved her into assisted living — my third move in four weeks.

Her health deteriorated rapidly, and in February we moved her once more, this time into skilled nursing. She died two weeks later.

I’ve always been close to my mom, and I spent a lot of time with her during her final two years. Being with her during her decline and passing has been the most sustained, intense experience I’ve ever had. It was full of wonderful times of connection, some very painful moments, and lots in between.

But that is a story for another post.

Now, back to "why"

During these past few intense years, I didn’t find much time to write, but I never stopped writing blog posts in my head. Earlier in my career, I wrote many hundreds of newsletter and magazine articles, as well as several books. Writing ceased to be central to my business, and in the press of priorities I didn’t find time for it, but the urge persists.

My step-father was fanatic about his diary, which he kept for decades. He also wrote several books about his experiences (see www.diarylibrary.net). It struck me, upon his death, how many stories and memories he left behind for others to read. Had he not been such a motivated writer, it all would have been gone forever.

My mom’s death further intensified my thinking about what each of us contributes, and what we leave behind. In my mom’s case, it was a vast body of ceramic art (see www.helenslaterdesign.com), and dozens of friends and apprentices she supported and mentored.

Which brings me back to thoughts of writing. I have always enjoyed writing, and I have all these stories running around in my head. I now feel motivated to try giving them a life outside me.

It feels good to write. I’m not entirely sure why. I sort of hope someone is reading, but I’m not sure it matters.

That’s it for the setup. Now come the posts. Soon.