Why I'm Doing This

I'm about 7 years behind the trend. Typical me. For years, I've had everyone from my brother to my friends Owen and Ari push me to blog.

I always have said no.

My reason was that I was the writer for the "Jim Mandich" show and that my writing was spoken for. My material was paid for by the best, and any thoughts, musings, jokes, or ideas... would go to the dog.

Well sadly, for now Jim is not on the airwaves. He disclosed yesterday that he's battling cancer. I can't begin to describe what Mad Dog has meant to me as a mentor, friend, role model. I remember one day attending his touchdown club lunch with my mother. My mom looked at him on stage and said, Dave... Watch him. See the way he carries himself, talks to others, treats others... be that. She didn't have to tell me. I admired Mad Dog from the first time I started interning at WPLG in the summer of 2000. He has such an easy demeanor on and off the air. He's kind to everyone. He busts balls and doesn't apologize for it. He's a man of character and principal. He's someone who can have a fair, honest, and open discussion with anyone about anything at any time. There's a yiddish word for him... He's a mentsch in the truest sense of the word.

I'm known to status update entirely too much on facebook. It's the place I've been putting my creative energy the last few months while the show has been on hiatus. Yesterday, when Mad Dog announced his illness, I thought of what kind of status update I could possibly give that would encompass how I felt. Wasn't possible. Could Luke write... Thoughts and prayers with Yoda during this difficult time? No. There was no way I could encapsilate my feelings... or what that Mad Dog has done to me in 160 characters. Heck, I couldn't do it in a novel.

But... among the myriad of things that he taught me... You must line up and play. Sick, hurt, sad, whatever... You line up and play. If I felt like it or not, I always found a way to write his show. If I had just spent 12 hours writing news during hurricane coverage, or had too many drinks chasing tail at Transit...I still found a way to bang out a show.

And so this is born.

My parents always taught me that character is what you do when no one is watching. This blog should have lots of character.

I want to make it known that the real writer in my family is Jon. You should follow him at @swiftylang on twitter. For more than a decade I had a repository for my ideas... I could learn to find my writing voice...while getting paid. It was easy for me. Jon hasn't found that repository yet. Hasn't stopped him. He's tenaciously written novels, plays, comic books, short stories, movies... Non-stop Jon continues to write... he's continued to scratch and claw and try to find his way. His writing has gotten better and better. He didn't do it for a paycheck. He did it because he's a writer... and so... I will always say he's the writer in the family.

But... I have these ideas that swim in my head. They don't stop. Some would say I need wellbutrin. I say... I need a blog.

I have no idea how long I'll keep this going.

I have no idea how often I'll post.

I have no idea who will read it.

But I do know I have to keep lining up. I have to keep putting content out there.

So I'd like to dedicate this to Mad Dog... Who helped me find my voice... And my brother... who showed me what it means to be a writer.

Enjoy.