100

I had this entry nearly in the can when our laptop contracted a particularly virulent virus, and thus I am posting through extremely non-standard means and under the most trying of conditions. Fortunately, no pedaling is involved. However, I can’t help but feel like I’m sending these words from a distant star. As soon as the ‘puter is back from the shop, you can be sure I will include a few quasi-Sebaldian illustrations.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. What I mean to say is: Welcome, and thank you for joining me on this, the 100th entry on Holy Embers. It’s hard to believe there are already so many, and harder still to judge the correct approach for the occasion. Do I go for the epic or the intimate? Do I take this opportunity to catalogue the Austerities of Ryan Rasmussen, or review the Top 100 Films I’ve Seen Part Of, or . . . ?

It’s a strange thing, this blogging. Unless you’re treating it as an out-and-out diary, there will naturally be items left out, hidden, squirreled away for an auspicious moment, to say nothing of sidestepping the risk of prematurely giving voice to those victories along the way. But perhaps this is as good a time as any to share a confession: I am not the only Ryan Rasmussen out there.

My crack blogitorial team has looked into the situation and discovered that there are in fact 99 other Ryan Rasmussens on the Internet. Let me be clear: I am not from Chicago nor do I bill myself as “the world’s greatest salesman.” I am also pretty sure that we are not a secret subset of the Templars (or at least I haven’t been invited). Nonetheless, whatever charms I offer up in these pages have been sufficient to garner me the title of Number Two Ryan Rasmussen on the Internet. (For a time I actually wore the Yellow Jersey myself, but the Chicagoan swiped it while I was touring New Zealand. You can’t be too careful.)

I am well aware of the responsibility this carries. After all, these pages have been visited by individuals from no less than six continents. True, they sometimes come searching for clarity on matters such as the “purple bag along 422,” but others are on a quest for something more profound, for insights of a more philosophical nature, pondering “what can the strongest man not hold forever” and “what is the function of finland.” I would like to think I have provided something of an answer from time to time. (Of course, my great aunt once told me that my writing was “philosophical,” but I don’t think she was worried about Finland.)

When I began this blog I didn’t know what I was getting into, or that I would enjoy it so much. In fact, it was only a few months ago that I realized I have a bona fide hobby. Sure, it supports the screenwriting, but it’s also become something else, a focal point for making sense of the journey. And this entry, I suppose, is really a roundabout way of acknowledging that you could have chosen to visit any of the other Ryan Rasmussens on the Web, but you didn’t. Thanks for stopping by.

In gratitude,

“knight in training ryan rasmussen”