April 1, 2015
Somewhere around 1968, when I finally had a paying job and lived in San Francisco near Lake Merced, I bought a boat in which to teach my kids to sail. The boat was a wooden sloop called a Thistle, open-topped so that the beauty of her varnished ribs, planks and thwarts shone warmly in the sun. Launched on April First, I painted APRIL FOOL on the transom and sailed her on many weekends, slicing back and forth on that little lake, swept as it was by winds straight off the ocean.
In seeking to teach, of course, I learned many things of value.
For several years I’ve been writing every day on various medical and non-medical discussion sites. Of course I like it when people tell me they like my ideas and the way I express them, and it’s a pain when some others hate my stuff, but as I see it the only way to be a writer is to write and let the chips fall where they may: put it out there and let people take it or leave it. My intent is to help, perhaps amuse, and to clarify complicated matters, to apply my experience as a physician and former journalist to the day’s events. But my part of the job ends with the writing, and it will be the reader who decides whether it is helpful or annoying. In theory, a web “log” or journal may be a good vehicle for achieving that purpose. I suppose we’ll see about that.
Thanks for dropping by. More soon.
Doc