I've only ever closely followed two blogs in my life. In both cases I have known who the person really is...and both journals have been written with gut-wrenching honesty.

This blogging is a strange, new thing. People become part of your daily routine. You get to know their habits, their likes and dislikes, their friends, their adventures...and although it is one-sided, there is a weird kind of a relationship there. They know they are putting this energy out to someone, and someone is on the other end, taking it in.

On September 8th of this year, one of these bloggers I followed, these people who bravely shared their life with me, passed away. I was quite shocked at how much his death affected me, seeing as this was a person I had never met or even spoken to. But I had read his blog posts daily for quite some time. I knew about this trip he was taking... a trek into the remote California desert, camping. He was no stranger to extreme adventures, and he had taken great pleasure in carefully preparing for this trip. I read about the research he was doing on the area he was heading to, I smiled at the pics of him getting his motorcycle ready, I eagerly checked his postings every morning to see if the last piece of gear he was waiting for had finally arrived. It did, and he left on his trip, so excited to be out under the stars and reveling in the solitude this trip would bring.

Evan Tanner never made it home from his trip. He died of dehydration and heat exhaustion, trekking from his campsite to what he thought were wet springs. He had enough water to get him from the campsite to the springs, where he had planned to refill his water bottles and then head back to his camp. When he arrived, the spring was dry, and the heat was over 115 degrees. He made it more than halfway back to his campsite before succumbing to the elements.

I still check his blog frequently. I don't know if I'm expecting a posting from the great beyond, or if I just find some comfort in re-reading his words for the umpteenth time, sort of proving to myself that he really did exist.

I can tell you one thing: he will be missed.

RIP Evan Tanner 1971-2008

First time jitters...

I'm buckling under the pressure of my first post. After lots of peeking at everyone else's blog, I decided to take a shot at one of my own. But what to write about? My day of kids, dogs and work? My favorite books and records? The UFC obsession that has most of my friends scratching their heads in confusion? I'm quite sure all those subjects and more will end up here in the coming days...Louise Brooks to Anderson Silva, and everything in between. Stay tuned.