One year anniversary

I just realized that this blog had just turned one. I began blogging last spring--April 13th to be exact. Whoo-hoo!

I'm not sure it has turned out exactly how I thought it would. The banner reads "Science, skepticism, some balanced woo-woo, a little politics, and hopefully, something to make people smile."

Well.

There wasn't a "little politics," now was there? I guess that was sort of impossible, given the fact that it was an election year. It gave me a place to rant, and a chance to believe that I can be cleverly snarky and witty and wise, so forgive my illusions of being the next Jonathan Swift. I also got to debate and "crush" in the comments section my favorite Anonymous brother and his radical agenda. Yeah, right.

I didn't post as much science as I thought, and I didn't go out and crusade against the woo. Crusade against the woo? I participated in a HOME DELIVERY, baby! That almost brands me as a tofu-chewing, mantra chanting member of the Deepak Chopra, brigade!

Actually, I've become a little disillusioned of the skeptical community. When I found out that the intertoobs had skeptic stuff on them, I was quite pleased. I quickly became disillusioned with Skeptico, and others, and in particular, BadAstronomy. The condescending tone, as well as the anti-religious attitude along with the vile political venom has been a complete turnoff for me. I came to those sites looking for some calm discussion about science topics and some debunking. I am now (thanks to those sites) more willing to examine different issues with an open mind.

That doesn't mean I believe that the Earth was created 6000 years ago, or that vaccines are BigPharma's attempt to hijack our immune system, or that crystal energy will heal the planet. I do believe that you can confront anti-science ideas and beliefs in a respectable way without implying that someone has a case of "teh stoopid," as some skeptical sites seem to think. You can win more respect for your side by not stooping to a lower level. Also, science is supposed to be essentially apolitical; I certainly don't need a dose of someone's "Bushitler" opinions on a chemistry blog or an astronomy site.

Being in recovery, I'm a bit more spiritual about things in my life, more so than I have ever been. Of course, my wife is the most spiritual person I have ever met in my whole life, so I often find myself standing back in amazement and just watching how she does things. I will spend the rest of my life learning from her.

Anyway---happy birthday, blog!