Why this blog exists

I’m glad you’ve decided to read this blog. Welcome. You will know me as “smacksfrog,” or “Dig’em Frog.” Honey Smacks is my favorite cereal, and I eat them dry because I hate milk. My name is not important.

I’ve always written under my own name. Why not? I get paid for it, and I get the exposure I need to one day — you know — REALLY get paid for it.

But this time I’m trying something different. I won’t tell you my name, where I work, or where I live. I’m not going to hide that information, but I won’t say it outright. By that, I mean my future blog posts will inevitably provide massive hints as to my identity, but no real names or specific locations will be used. Google is not my friend.

You might wonder why it even matters. After all, I’m not famous (a few thousand people in my hometown know of me and my writing, but that’s it). I’m not a big, successful novelist or journalist. I’m not even rich. And to top it off, I live in America, where we are free to say what we want.

I’m doing this because my speech is not free, nor is yours. Everything we do or say comes with consequences, and the ones I’ve had a taste of are not worth it — at least not right now. Columns I’ve written for a local publication have put my other job (the one that pays more) in jeopardy.

I wrote a constructive article criticizing a Church-run pre-marital counseling retreat, and it made its way back to the man who performed our ceremony. He never mentioned it; I just happened to see the printed article as he thumbed through our file to find the marriage license. Why was it there? Who sent it to him? What did he plan to do? For some reason, I felt violated.

Posts I’ve made on public forums on the Internet have wound up printed out and sitting on my desk at work — a job I had recently started. Who put them there? I still don’t know, and I guess I never will.

An old boss kept a file on me. It contained articles and posts I had made on the Internet that he did not agree with. I found this file without his knowledge, and it was never used against me. I guess he was keeping it in case he ever needed to get rid of me. The company was failing anyway.

Readers send my writings to my closest friends, family members, and employers in hopes of showing them something I didn’t want them to see because I, in some way, threatened these readers’ opinions by asserting my own. In reality, all I’ve done is put into words what others might feel in hopes that someone is entertained by it — not enlightened, even. Entertained.

Some say I should be flattered by the effort people have made to hurt me and my environment. Perhaps it means that I am making an impact, my writing is effective, and I should go even further. To me, though, I don’t feel like it’s worth it yet.

I’m not paid big bucks to write these little op-ed pieces. It’s not my primary source of income, and worse, it has shown massive potential to affect my actual primary source of income, my life, everything I have to provide a stable environment for myself and my wife. I refused to get fired because someone was miserable enough to find out where I work and fling every piece of negative evidence in that direction.

It’s my own fault. I say things (not necessarily offensive things) that other people disagree with, and I am easily accessible. I have Facebook, very obvious online usernames, and a few ex-friends who wouldn’t hesitate to make every effort to destroy my life. I get my words out, and I suffer the consequences for them. I’m not interested in doing that anymore, at least not until my primary means of sustaining life is via imparting my words on others. I want to be paid to write about my beliefs so that I never have to lose my job as a result of them.

I started this blog because even though it’s in my best interest to keep my opinions disconnected from my name, I can’t not write them. I will always write them. This may not ever make me money, but one day, when that “damned novel” is finished and several contracts are signed, I’ll be comfortable enough to tell the world I’m the one behind this nationally popular blog. Yes, I have grandiose, unrealistic dreams. I hope you do, too.

I want you to read these posts and be entertained (maybe enlightened, but not necessarily) by them. I’d like you to comment on my posts and give me your own input as well. I want to know what other people think about things when they aren’t under the scrutiny of miserable individuals who can’t stand to be challenged.

I want you to leave no-holds-barred comments on my blog with everything you think about my posts. I look forward to writing words that have no bearing on those who sign my paychecks. And I look forward to getting feedback from people who can’t do a thing to hurt me anymore.

Welcome to my blog. Get the words out.