Well! Hello, Stranger

Welp! I'm back! Good Morning! Long time, no post. I sincerely apologize for that. It's been busy these past few months.

So! Let's see: what happened since my last post?

I Turned 31. That was fun. I had family over at my place for birthday dinner and the next morning my brother-in-law, James, and I went to the shooting range near my house to break-in the Savage Arms Mark II GPX .22 long rifle Brooke bought me for my birthday.

Back in May, I posted about attempting a photo-a-day project inspired by Cowbird founder Jonathan Harris own photo-a-day project.  That was a massive fail on my part. More on this in a later post. Promise.

Primary elections, Syria, Libya, general elections debates, blah de blah...

I got an A in my Basic Newswriting class for spring semester then I turned around and took on a heavy summer semester courseload which included an accelerated World Religion online course and Public Speaking as an accelerated on-campus class—which, I must say, I enjoyed thoroughly. My favorite speech for the class was on zombie disaster preparedness. (I know, right?) So, school totally kept me away from here. But I made an A in both classes. And I made some awesome new lifelong friends as well. (You can follow two of them on Twitter here and here and here.) They, along with my sister, James, Ben Bowlin and several others, joined me at my very first DragonCon, which—coincidentally—was also my pseudo-bachelor's party. Holy poo on cheese crackers! That was an amazing night!

So! Yeah. I got married. Definitely, recommending it. The planning was a pain and it got especially intense as we we got closer to the date. I even decided to take the semester off from school so I could be more involved in the planning and logistics. But I think it was worth marrying the girl who has been my best friend and—for all intents and purposes—my wife in all but legally filled paperwork these past eight years. It was a long time coming. Brooke did an superb job in bring a lot of the elements together that made our wedding so beautiful. (It didn't hurt that she was stunning in that dress either.) I would say that 90 percent of the decor she either made herself or had custom ordered from Etsy. Our wedding venue pinned some of it on their Pinterest page, if your interested in taking a gander [1][2][3].

[Image Source: Janet Howard Studio]

Speaking of wedding venues and vendors, we had some of the best, most amazing folks helping us get hitched without a hitch. (HA! Sorry, couldn't help myself.) Brooke and I will be posting reviews for them in all the wedding sites. Actually, at the risk of turning this site into a wedding blog for the next month or so, I might even do a write-up for each of them here. The wedding provided me with lots of great material for the blog, both directly and indirectly connected to the wedding. I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that, especially of the all the fun things we did on the honeymoon at Sandals.

So until then. See you guys again soon-ish and welcome back. I'm off to early vote. Fingers crossed—not for my candidate, but for hoping I don't gouge my eyes out and gnaw my arm off while spending my entire Saturday standing in line.

PS: A big thanks to our family and friends—especially, our wedding party—for all the help and love and support and for sharing our special day with us, as well as to all the wedding vendors for being amazing. We couldn't have done it with you.

movements & measures

On Monday, Zero Edition Press released my first poetry chapbook, movements & measures as an e-Book distributed by Smashwords.com . It's been a long time coming.

movements & measures
ISBN: (ePub) 978-14524-6192-2
Publisher: Zero Edition Press
Distributor: Smashwords.com
Release Date: November 08, 2011

In the foreword, I wrote that these poems are "the little ghosts of children that haunt me like pictures displayed on a mantle." Written between1998 and 2003, they came into existence during a very complicated and tough time in my life. Since then "my children" have grown up, changed into their current versions--some of which you've read here. They wait to be reunited. These new versions will be included in the next collection along with my newer works.

I would also like to thank you all, my dear fans and followers, family and friends. Your support and encouragement over the years gave me the confidence and the courage to follow my dreams. My sincere, heart felt thank you goes out to you all.

Thank you.

Please visit and "like" the Zero Edition Press Facebook page <click here>  to receive updates on other Zero Edition Writers, news and events, and coupon codes.

Thanks again, everyone!

Support Our Troops

I participated today in The Big Thank You, a letter righting campaign sponsored by The Bert Show  and Local Atlanta Area Taco Mac. In appreciation for the selfless service of US servicemen and women, The Big Thank You asks people to write a letter that is "heartfelt, handwritten, original, and free of any political statements" to our troops overseas and drop it off at their local Taco Mac location. Their goal is to give 1 letter for each of the 400,000+ service members around the global for Thanksgiving. The deadline is tomorrow, October 28th, 2011 and as of this morning were way behind. Please help out. 

My letter is below in case you're interested. I typed it out as well for legibility.

To the Service Person Reading This Letter:

            It is hard for me to find sufficient words to express my gratitude for your service to our country. So let me start off by saying: Thank You.

If one were to filter out all the noise of politics and protests, the debates and demagoguery of foreign affairs, one would find that all that would be left is you—you and the millions of men and women, past and present, like you, who sacrificed so other wouldn’t have to. You are more than a collection of Purple Hearts and Service Ribbons. You are our brothers and sisters, our parents and children. You are our husbands, wives, friends and lovers. You are the protectors of an America more transcendental than any particular war and more intrinsic than the ever changing definition of “American Values.” You are American, a citizen of this country and of the planet Earth. Your service will mean more to us than you’ll ever admit and more than we’ll ever know.

I hope that when you finally make it home that the American people have done and will continue to do right by you. I hope that when you finally get to come home, we, the people who stayed behind, have made your country a little better than when you left it. And I hope that you will never be ashamed of us or of your service to us.

Thank you and sincerely yours,

T.J. Blackburn

Atlanta, Georgia.