Chris Minerd

So I started a blog. One of those brand new things that the kids are doing on their interwebs, right? I’ve got my finger on the pulse of technology, right? Of course I do!

This actually isn’t my first venture in blogging. Back in 2005, I had a LiveJournal. By a show of hands, who here remembers LiveJournal? Anyone?

Well, now I’m trying it again. And as many blogs have their own niche, I’m not alone. I have Rail Tales: Stories Made on the Red Line.

Perhaps some explanation is in order. Let’s go over some ground rules:

• These posts must be made from my commute on Boston’s own reliable Red Line. The T, as it’s known around here. I get on at Downtown Crossing and get off at Alewife. Whatever happens in those 20 minutes ends up here.
• Writing starts when I’m on the platform. Bonus points if the train is late.
• My writing should be fairly organic. I’m not spending all day thinking exactly what I’m going to write. That takes away all of the fun that is the spontaneous nature of the Rail Tale.
• Entries are not edited afterwards for grammar, spelling, other remarkable ideas after the fact, etc. It’s speed writing.
• Nothing’s too taboo…except here. Gotta keep it PG. Well, maybe PG-13. Eh…do they still have an X rating? We’ll try to avoid that one, at least.
• You’ll find the full gamut here! Humor, insight, drama, and none of the above. But don’t think it’s like Seinfeld, the blog about nothing. (Though that idea actually caught fire…I’ll rethink that one)

And so why am I doing this? I’m a writer by day, and my goal is that it will keep me sharp. And I really want this to be coherent – not just a complete ramble about nothing (OK – Seinfeld clone blog is officially off the table). Doing a well-written blog in 20 minutes should be a nice challenge, so that’s why I do it. Plus, with all that goes on, from around the world to around the block, I want my voice heard in some way. And blogs are a democratizing tool to do this.

So, in a nutshell, Rail Tales are going to keep me sharp.

Have fun reading and let me know how I’m doing!

Epilogue:
At some point, you may get a super-long blog – the train is terribly delayed, stuck, flying off the rails, on fire (it happens), etc. The Rail Tale can end up being the next great American novel if we’re so lucky. Hooray!

Finally, do you know the theory that, if you give a room full of monkeys a bunch of typewriters and plenty of time, they’ll reproduce Shakespeare? I truly believe that. If, this past Tuesday, you gave a Red Line train full of monkeys a bunch of typewriters, and got it stuck in between Porter and Harvard, that’s plenty of time to reproduce Hamlet. Or at least Macbeth.

And if I was 10 minutes early to Alewife that morning, I would have been on that train with them. I could have charmed them enough to act it out, too, I’m sure.  That would have been an entertaining Rail Tale.