I have no justification for setting up, as we say, yet another blog by yet another guy except that I’m a compulsive writer lately, and I’m mean to my cats if I don’t write something.

I am Stan Raines, sometimes actor or musician, parent, husband, shark with a set of darts, confirmed as a former smoker, former teacher, former golfer, former tennis player, former Hoosier, former student, former youth. If you count the time I spent working with cement, though slight, a former form former, too. And, since I’ve joined the board of Planned Parenthood for Cameron and Willacy County, I might soon be a re-former, as well.

I have been writing entries in a MySpace blog since October, and I’ve gotten saner in the process and said a few things I believe wanted to be said. No. I’m not going to argue anything like necessity to justify what I write. I write primarily because I do. And I feel better, generally, on days when I’ve written something. So, you see, it’s completely selfish.

I guess that’s quite a thing for someone who greatly values modesty to say. But let us distinguish modesty and judgment. One may possess both, I assert boldly.

My intended audience is very specific: my friends. I often have several of them in mind when I write, so if you sometimes feel as though I’m addressing you personally, consider yourself one of my friends.

And, yes, I am.