Hey. I’m eric and this is my new blog. There was a point in time not too long ago when I had 2 blogs here in addition to a live journal account and a blog on myspace. I also maintained the blog for one of my bands. That’s just silly – no one has that much to say about anything. It started to occur to me that my seasonal entries were all starting to look the same, and I wasn’t about to take up hang gliding or mountain climbing just have something new and interesting to write about. Then, after a couple years of fairly regular posts, I hit sort of a rough spot in life last spring, and by the end of the summer I really didn’t feel like saying much about anything. It also came to my attention that some first class a$$holes were using those pages to cyber stalk me. Beyond all that, I was having technical difficulties with one of those blogs and had started to feel forced to post meaningful content all around, so I deleted all of them in favor of a fresh start. I know that was upsetting to some people, sorry about that! This journal will be different from the others because it will encompass all of my interests, and I will be using tags to help readers navigate though the different subjects. Also, due to a surprising outcry from other Minnesota sportsmen, I will generally not divulge the names of places to which I travel on my fishing and hunting adventures. I’ve stripped down my profile info as well – do you really care what my favorite movie is? – and I’d like to post the following disclaimers based on past experience and my blogging hopes for the future:

- I like me. If you don’t, too f'n bad. At least have the courtesy and courage to tell me to my face, and we’ll talk it over. If you’re reading these posts and looking at my photos with some sort of hatred or malevolence in your heart, you might want to step back and take a good hard look at yourself – that is NOT normal or healthy behavior, and you're probably suffering from some sort of mental illness.

- I’ve made some mistakes in the past year, and I spend time each day going over those bad decisions in my mind. I’ve grown and changed considerably over the course of 2009. I’m sorry for those times when I used poor judgment, and I can see a day when I’ll be at peace once again with my life.

- I learned from my previous blogs that a good number of people share my interests, and I will make every effort to provide the readers here with reliable information and high quality content. I am not a “certified expert” on any subject, however, so be sure to cross check any “facts” that you find here with other online sources.

- Yes, I'm the guitarist for a couple different groups – big f’n deal, a LOT of people are. It doesn’t make me any “cooler” than anyone else and, honestly, considering what an easy instrument it is, I’m not very good for having been at it for more than 20 years. I like to post photos of me playing because those are often the times when I’m most happy, and that seems to come through in those pictures - they always seem to represent me well. I’m NOT trying to be a “show off” of whatever. If you have a problem with any of that, here’s a tip – go buy a $90 instrument at Wal-mart, click HERE, and start your own band. It’s THAT easy!

- I love duck hunting (it’s by far my favorite hobby), but I don’t go afield every fall for any love of blood or killing. The appeal for me comes from the experience as a whole; maintaining equipment, painting decoys, scouting, shooting practice, working with my dog, canoeing in the dark, little boats on big water, etc. Plus, the rich history of waterfowling in North America fascinates me to no end, and I love being a part of that long-standing American tradition. You will rarely if ever see a photo of a dead animal posted directly on this blog. Also, I generally practice catch and release fishing. If a fish in a photo wound up in the frying pan, it will be duly noted. Of all the fish I catch in any given year, I usually eat only 3 or 4 of them.

- I may go for weeks without a post – deal with it. I felt sort of trapped by my previous blogging efforts, and I don’t want that to happen again. If I have something interesting to say, you’ll hear about it.

- A fair amount of what I say is tongue in cheek, and I make frequent use of the “winky face.” ;-) I’ve found that a lot of people either have poor senses of humor or just plain like to pounce and fight, and that’s not what I’m looking for here. Stand down and read my posts with a smirk on your face because that’s what I’m doing while I’m writing them.

Ok, good enough. Sorry to sound like a pompous ass. I LIKE to take pictures, I LOVE writing, and blogging just happens to be an activity that fits me well. Oh, and I usually go through all my posts and count the instances of the words “I, me, and mine” in the interest of eliminating as many as possible. This post was particularly bad, so I’ll try again tomorrow. ;-) Peace.