Nobody Asked Me To, But I'm Gonna Do It Anyway.

I've been reflecting a lot on Wanky's suggestions as my mind wanders during rides, partly because he hammered home a few points that should have been obvious to me, but mainly because they have been a cheap way to manufacture content. I'm using him like reality shows use the denizens of trailer parks.
 
I probably should have done this a while ago, but since this started as a digital replacement for my old My Little Pony diary (the deluxe sparkle edition), I never really had any idea of what I wanted it to be or what form it would take. I figure as long as my family's financial stability now relies solely on this blog, I might as well lay down some founding principals:

1. This is all about me and my skewed take the world around me.
2. If you're mentioned in a post or three, reflect long and hard on that first item.
3. If you agree with me, that's nice. If you disagree with me, that's fine. It's a big interweb out there, and I'm sure you can find a viewpoint that conforms to your own. If you'd prefer to add comment to express your opinion, I'm good with that. As long as I find it semi-coherent and relatively well-reasoned (even if I don't agree with it), I'll publish it and try to respond in what I consider a coherent and well-reasoned manner. It may take me a couple days. Because of the nature of digital communications these days, I rarely fire off comments in anger. I've done it before, and I always regret it. I like debate, but I hate shouting matches. If you don't want to comment, approach me in another way. I can't fix (or dismiss) stuff that I don't know about.
4. I don't go out and actively try to offend people. No, wait. Sometimes I offend people just to make myself giggle. As mentioned before, I'm a world-class douchebag, so the first item especially applies here.
5. If I do offend you, you probably just made me giggle. All I ask is that you do what I do when I encounter something that offends or irritates me. I get on my bike, hammer out some intervals, scream profanities into the wind, and then try to reason out the other viewpoint when the endorphins kick in. Try it.
6. I like people who ride bikes, except for those that I don't like. Riding a bike doesn't make you a wonderful person. I am a perfect example of this. Riding a bike adds a common point of reference for us, but that's about it. Even then we'll likely disagree about what "riding a bike" actually entails. Our personalities and perspectives won't suddenly mesh because of an exercised-induced endorphin high. That said, I do like the vast majority of people that race around in our little minnow pool. The others I try to keep my interactions with them civil and limited. We're out there to have fun, and I don't need the added drama in my life. Again, see item 1.
7. Nobody appointed me chronicler of the South Central Alaska road racing scene. There are people who have much more experience and knowledge about the politics, characters, and dynamics of it that I ever will. Unfortunately, those people have lives and are therefore unable to waste any time on such a futile endeavor. My experience with bicycle road racing has a rich history dating all the way back to 2008. I know guys with inner tubes older than that. You get what you pay for, and as of this morning my accountant has had no problems dealing with a huge cash influx.
8. The bottom line is that this is the internet, and nothing I write here matters. None of it. I'm not doing anything of substance in the world with this blog. If people read it, that's great. If people don't, that's OK too. I'll write it as long as I want to, and then I won't. There's no great story arc here. It's all just based on whatever random thought travels through my mind. View it through that lens, and refer back to item 1.