What's in a name?

One of the hardest things for me when I decided to start this blog was deciding what to call it. I wanted something catchy and memorable, but I also didn't want it to sound too goofy or irreverent. After all, I still plan on keeping this sounding more professional even if it's still a personal blog. I didn't want a name that was too stiff and formal, but I still want people to take some of what I have to say seriously. That's not going to happen with a silly blog title that is only funny to me.

As you can probably guess, I tend to over-think things like names and titles. I can't help it; I guess it's in my nature. Strangely enough, it has proven to be my undoing at times. I've been known to throw my hands up in frustration and give up on stories, articles, even characters in role playing games (yeah, I'm a geek) just because I can't find just the right names for them.

Messed up? Maybe, but like I said, it's in my nature. It's like a kind of writer's block, or maybe an excuse for having writer's block. Whatever it is, it's one of the reasons why I sat on my grand scheme of creating a public blog to act as my soapbox for so long.

Fortunately, I've got a great resource in the form of my beautiful, clever, and all-around wonderful wife. She was the one who came up with the name "Herding Cats" while we were thinking of possible titles. Perhaps you think it's a strange name, but as I gave it more and more thought it grew on me. I'm not planning to have a central theme to this blog; it will be about whatever I think happens to be worthy of discussion. It won't be all random thoughts and observations about life, but it may have a bit of organized chaos, kind of like trying to herd cats.

That, my friends, is the reason for the title. For what it's worth I think it's catchy, memorable, and general enough to fit a blog that's about a little bit of everything. It also happens to describe my life at the moment, but that's a story for another time and another blog.

P.S. My apologies to cat lovers who may stumble in here looking for a pet blog. I like cats, but I don't have a whole lot to say about them.

Allow me to introduce myself

I've been meaning to start my own blog, and now I've finally gotten around to it.

Anyway, my name is Thomas Plante, and I'm currently trying to make ends meet as a freelance writer and musician. I may add "viola teacher" to that as well. I have lived in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota for my entire life, and despite the bitterly cold winters that tend to scare a lot of people away I actually do like living here. I love the changing of the seasons, and it's nice to live in a place where the arts are appreciated.

I can't say that I have a definite focus for this blog yet, but those of you who take the time to come back and read this regularly can expect posts about writing, literature, music, film, society, and whatever else happens to catch my attention that I think warrants a blog entry. This is intended to be a semi-professional/personal blog, and while I'd like to use it as a place to post some of my more professional writing, I may include more personal posts about myself and what I'm doing, but I promise not to indulge myself with rambling posts about how much my life may or may not suck. I have a Livejournal account if I really need to vent.

Thanks for stopping by my new corner of the blogosphere. Things may be pretty sparse at the moment, but I plan to keep this thing regularly updated. I hope to see you again soon.