I'm Back! (...?)

Me, typing away at the library.

So, back in 2020 I wrote a post called, "A Long Overdue Post", in which I wrote a bit about the then (and now, and as always) pressing issue of racial injustice in this country. From the title, I also indirectly called myself out for ostensibly being absent from blogging for nearly two years, as is noted from the date stamps — markers upon which I have come to rely, since clearly I haven't been keeping very good track of time...

On the topic of clarification and explanation, and to the best of my recollection, my two year absence June 2018 — June 2020 can be blamed on a work life that started going into hyperdrive mode, to shorten an otherwise very long story (about which I'm keen to write about, "one day™"). My brief "return" to writing, if I were to call it that, was probably due to the inevitable boredom associated with the pandemic-established pastime of staying at home and the world at large otherwise getting flushed down a toilet of despair and hopelessness. Not to mention, of course, the timely subject matter mentioned above/within that post.

Well, in the meantime, as one would well expect from any living, breathing human being attached to society, things have happened. Enough so that the three-year long absence since my very last post has easily surpassed that prior two-year gap. It wasn't until I started writing this entry that I realized the actual length. Golly, it's now 2025. My work life progressed in interesting ways, and I now have kids. So while my family has been steadily pluralizing, I made the decision last year to step back from work. That story, again, I'll save for another day, but suffice it to say that I'll try to find a few moments of sanity as a parent of youngsters to dedicate to writing, as always, about "stuff".

Despite appearances, I'm not so vain as to think that folks are fighting hand over fist to get life updates and un-substack-worthy commentaries from me. If I were to take an educated guess, readership would consist of:

• 75% bots
• 15% random people I've just met IRL who googled my name and are now trying to figure out whether I'm the Andrew Jing they're searching for
• 5% old friends and acquaintances who are barely curious enough to wonder if I'm still alive but who have no desire to actually talk to me (I feel you, btw)
• 4% old colleagues who are wondering how my novel about work, based on a very true story, is coming along
• 1% pro Redditors who love clicking through old links

Quick note on the blog structure - Back a decade ago, I originally separated entries into different topics and subdomains: General, Finance, Tech, Food, and (Travel) Photos. Veteran readers of the site, your memory did not fail you! It's true — I've now consolidated all historical posts into this single sub, except Photos. Sorry for any broken links. I'll try to keep things interesting and figure labels can do most of the heavy lifting going forward.