Until very recently, I’ve been able to write this blog in the comfortable confidence that no one was reading it.

It is therefore with mild horror that I now realize at least a handful of people are actually, um, reading this blog. I remain (intentionally) ignorant as to exactly how many times the server is spitting this text across the Internet, but blogs I respect and admire have done me the kindness of putting in a good word with their readership, so I must assume a few people are at least giving it a shot.

To you adventurous new readers I say hello, welcome, lovely to have you here, and if I may I’d like to introduce you to the rules and principles by which I sculpt this blog.

Rule 1: HOLY CRAP I HAVE NO RULE NUMBER ONE I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I HAVE A CONSISTENT TOPIC

Not even a consistent topic? Not even. Or to put it another way:

This blog has a location, not a name.

Somewhat unfortunately, since it doesn’t have a name, the location becomes the name. (Location: ChrisAshworth.org Name: Uhhhhhhh…that blog on ChrisAshworth.org, aka “Chris Ashworth’s blog”).

Nice work, douche. Can’t you name it and put the focus on your topic instead?

Um, well, you have a great point, but again: I wasn’t expecting you to actually be here reading this. I didn’t install WordPress because I had a topic, I installed it because I needed somewhere to respond.

I do stuff on the Internet. Sometimes I need a place to do it. Result: website. I used to have photos hosted here. Used to have a resume here. Used to put grad school homework assignments up here. They got stale. They’re gone now. (With one exception.)

This blog has no name because it has no theme. No theme except: junk I’ve been a-thinkin’ about.

Will I be writing about theater, small business, marketing and those other things that might have brought you here? Yes. I’m face-deep in all those things right now, and will undoubtedly need a place to explore more ideas on those topics.

But just so’s ya know, you’re liable to run into other stuff around here too. Software design, or politics, or personal grooming, or, hell, the intersection of politics and personal grooming.

I’m not trying to scare you off. God forbid. I’m totally stoked you’re here. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. The greatest part of blogging is that I already disagree with half the stuff I’ve written before. Smart people called me out on things I got wrong.

All I wanna do is let you know: I’m not locking this thing down to one theme. I can’t do that. I can’t make stuff like that. Sorting my energy into themes just kills me. It kills me that when I went off to grad school for computers, everyone thought I’d given up theater. I wasn’t giving them the category they understood, so my life in theater, as they understood it, was dead. I hated that. That urge to force people and topics into a category. Their eyes would glaze over, and their categories would slice right through my life, and leave me in two pieces. I think that’s why this blog has no name. Names are powerful, and important, and manifestly necessary. But what makes them powerful and important and necessary is how they change and capture and fence in an idea. It’s very useful to fence something in, except when it isn’t. Sometimes the cage kills the thing you’re caging.

So welcome to this blog, a place where this guy named Chris does some writing. I’m completely thrilled you’re here. I can’t wait to talk to you. I just can’t tell you what we’ll talk about, because I honestly don’t know.