This blog’s name and purpose

Here’s the fascinating story behind the rather prosaic title of “My Track Record.”

I was recently talking to my dad about an upcoming racing opportunity that might be bad for my marriage. My dad listened patiently for a while and then said, “You realize, don’t you, that if you do this, it will be on your record … forever.”

I basically cracked up. My parents are gentle people who rarely offer unsolicited criticism, so hearing my dad say even this much was kind of shocking. It was as if a normal dad had said, “Son, if you do this, then you’re dumber than dirt.”

I eventually decided that my dad was probably right: skip the race, keep the marriage. In addition, though, this “on your record” business got me thinking about my perennially shoddy records: diaries started and abandoned within a week, photo albums containing no photos since 2004, etc. I decided that it was time to do a better job of capturing and preserving experiences that I might want to revisit someday. One week and a couple of inquiries later, here I am with a new blog, ready to chronicle my ups and downs.

After all, even an incriminating record is better than no record at all.