“A little less than a lot” is something I said at my grandparents’ Swedish-German table when I was 14 years old, responding to my mormor’s question of whether I wanted any homemade soup for lunch. I tended to start talking before thoroughly thinking out what it was I wanted to say (teen me would have been a great disappointment to Abe Lincoln, Maurice Switzer, Mark Twain, or whoever actually coined the quote about fools staying silent, for sure), so I declared “a little less…,” realized I had nowhere to go with it, as there was no former quantity to compare it to, and subsequently stumbled over the words “…than a lot?” Everything is relative, so that got a few chuckles from my mom.

That was over ten years ago now, and because I am finally feeling the walls of the post-2020 coronavirus pandemic closing in on me (things still don’t quite feel “normal,” whatever that used to mean), and the area where I grew up infused the word “entitlement” (among other similar terms) into the wrinkles of my brain, I have decided to put text to screen and start a blog. I have little expectations here, and I think everyone else should, too. Nothing will be some grand revelation. I can’t call myself a writer. These posts will probably have no continuity and will more closely resemble all the other *white noise* that tends to drone on loudly throughout the internet and beyond. Maybe not? It’ll remain unclear until I really get going.

Minimally, I should be able to make a few promises to myself here:

One: This blog is for myself. For whatever topic comes to mind. A way to practice researching and writing. So, maybe it will be pretentious to some, boring to others, and even positively hated by others still. That’s all good with me — I just need a hobby and an outlet for all the words bouncing around my brain.

Two: I will guarantee this won’t become a cooking journey. No A-tragedy-befell-my-family-when-I-was-a-young-girl-and-I-discovered-that-pot-roast-could-cure-all-psychological-ills kind of backstories for any willing readers to navigate around. I’m not Julie-and-Julia-ing anything.

Three: I’ll try to have fun with it. I studied sociology, and wrote a whole thesis on gender bias in media reporting, so I consider myself a “realist” (i.e., my outlook on things tends to seem concerning and dismal to my friends and family), and I’m interested in pursuing some more sociologically-minded posts, but I’m not looking to depress strangers who are already spending some of their well-deserved rest time reading my bozo thoughts. I’ll strive to offer solutions and laughs where I can.

Four: I will use this blog for good. No ads, no feeding the algorithm. Just a gal and her thoughts about things I notice here and there, with some data to back me up. I won’t “sell out,” and I will dutifully reach into my savings to pay for the WordPress domain each year. I’ll link to some good people doing good things out there; I’ll do my best to foment the good that’s around in the world and avoid feeding the hungry little demons in each of our minds that just want rage-bait adrenaline to feed on. At least, not too much.

Five: I will present my thoughts and research in the spirit of “A Little Less Than A Lot.” I will not write any epics, and I’ll try to edit to refrain from being overly verbose (I may fail, I do like words), but I don’t want to limit myself to “400 words or less,” or whatever rules of thumb newspapers impose on their journalists. Everything in moderation, variety is the spice of life, “a man’s got to know his limitations” (my whole childhood, my father quoted Clint Eastwood to my sister and I to “build our characters”–it’s arguably the most Republican thing about his very liberal disposition), or any of those other decided cliches that aim at getting people to strive for “just enough” are going to be my guide posts for this.

Five pillars seem like enough for a silly little one-person blog. Nothing left to do except type some more!