Tap . . Tap . . Tap – Is this thing on?  I guess so.  Well, here we are.  I have been thinking about starting my own blog.  As is my habit, I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it, and then came back and thought about it some more.  But at some point, a guy has to either give up and move on, or actually sit down and write something.

My friend Jim Grey, who writes the wonderfully readable Down the Road blog, responded to my request for some blogging advice by urging me to come up with an overall theme, and to publish regularly.  In truth, I had kind of hoped that his advice would be more like “Just spew out whatever is on your mind at random times, because you are such a fascinating guy.”  That would have been a lot easier, and I would have undoubtedly had something online before now.  I am still not sure that I have overcome the focus and timing hurdles, but I suppose that the only way to start is to, you know, actually start.

Timing is pretty easy.  I am going to shoot for one post a week.  At first I was thinking Mondays.  But given my busy life tendencies towards procrastination, that would probably mean a regular Sunday evening panic session at the keyboard.  And it can’t be Tuesdays, because Monday is bad enough without having to wonder whether I have anything left in my head worth sharing.  After striking off all seven days for reasons along these lines, perhaps we have to lower our standards a bit, so let’s shoot for Fridays.  Friday.  Every.  Friday.  OK, let’s not panic here.  I can always post a cat picture or something in a pinch.

The what is harder.  Other than my family, I have three things in my life bring out enough passion to make them interesting to at least somebody.  In no particular order, they are old cars, old jazz music, and finally, all things Catholic, particularly in those areas where faith and real life collide, sometimes in a spectacular fashion.   As much as I enjoy the first two subjects, they are ultimately minor diversions in life.  It is the faith questions that I have spent quite a lot of time thinking about over the last several years, and which I suspect will predominate as we go forward.

Things are moving quickly in society today, and there is a lot to talk about.  I envision this blog as a place where I can share some of my ideas with you and where you, in turn, can respond with thoughts of your own.  My guiding principal is that this will be a place where people of good faith and goodwill can come together to discuss consequential ideas.  We may not agree with each other, but it is my hope that at the conclusion of each discussion, you will at least understand where I am coming from, and I will have a better understanding of your views as well.   I believe that we are all well-served by getting out of our comfort zones and respectfully listening to those we disagree with.  I try do this with others, and hope that you can do so here.  I hope to prove that strong feelings and collegiality do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Alright, my second goal is to not bore you.  Isn’t there enough of that in life already?  So, I think we have this part licked – interesting topics discussed in an interesting and respectful way.

I am left with two problems, though: My name and this blog’s title.  All of my Curbside Classic writing has been under the name jpcavanaugh.  I might actually start employing capital letters and periods and go with J. P. Cavanaugh.  Let’s try this.  But a title is a little more vexing.  Those who have read me before know that bad puns and wordplay are frequently pulled out of my writer’s kit.  Alright, maybe more than frequently.  And I have not yet hit on something that really does it for me.  I thought of “Rum Romanism and Rebellion” (the phrase with which Republican James Blaine described his Democratic opponent in the 1994 Presidential election).  But I don’t really want to write on drinking, so it doesn’t work as well as it could.   Oh well, it will come to me.  So, for the time being, I guess J. P. Cavanaugh’s Blog is as good as we are going to get.

So, I want to thank both of you for coming to read this.  Maybe we can get enough of us together to play a few hands of Euchre.  So, now that you know I am here, please stop by next Friday and I will try to have something interesting to contribute.  Or, at least a funny cat video.