Welcome to Mertonfolio! Just what the world needed, eh? Another vanity site personal blog for some dude who thinks that what he says is worth reading.

Oh, but this one is different! Why, you ask? Because this isn’t just my blog, it’s potentially the blog for anyone in my family who wants to use it. Don’t worry, our kids are both in preschool, so they’ll not be writing essays any time soon. But you get the idea.

As for the why, you can credit (or blame) Mark Zuckerberg. To be more specific, like most quasi-narcissists, I was content spewing my thoughts on Meta’s various platforms. I was always grumbly about it—those who know me personally know that I’ve been trying to move my friends and family away from Facebook for a decade or more. But I did it, like everyone else of a certain age because most of my family and friends were there, there are groups that appealed to my interests, etc.

However, it’s been getting harder and harder for me to use Meta platforms knowing that my data is helping to enrich a boot-licking, self-absorbed, sociopathic, more-than-quasi-narcissist. So I’m taking my content creation away from Meta platforms. I can use bluesky as my regular, not enshittified social media outlet, but for longer form missives, I’m back to blogging.

So there you go. Classic Mertonfolio: I’ve just taken five paragraphs to express what could have been said in three sentences. If that’s how you like to waste your time, welcome and enjoy!