Some days start with a poem. Most days start with coffee and a dog who thinks I’m late.

I’m Robin. Some of you know me from years of this blog, back when I wrote about bipolar, anxiety, my kids, my mom, and the occasional adventure in trying to remain upright while life rearranged the furniture.

Some of you are new. Hi!

I’ve been writing for nearly twenty years. Sometimes publicly, sometimes quietly, and sometimes with absolutely no idea where a sentence was going until it got there.

There have been stretches when I stopped publishing. That doesn’t mean I stopped having things to say. Quite the opposite, actually. I’ve accumulated enough material to keep us all entertained for a while.

These days, I spend a great deal of time writing. Sometimes I even write what I intended to write when I sat down. It’s always exciting when that happens.

I’m working on something called Bird Watch, where I tackle civics with a sense of humor. The news is heavy enough without making people feel they need an advanced degree and a stiff drink to understand it.

I also make shirts and other things at MineWares, because I’ve decided that “MINE!” is possibly the most honest word in the English language.

And shoot, a girl has to earn a living somehow.

MineWares is my HOW. I’m hoping to earn SOME.

The writing is free. The merch isn’t. That’s the whole business plan.

And then there’s Bailey.

Bailey is my thirteen-year-old girl, my companion, my supervisor, and the final authority on whether I’ve spent quite enough time at the computer.

She has opinions. Lots of them.

She’s also usually right, which is irritating.

So that’s a little of my world these days. Writing, creating, asking questions, making things, and sharing the whole peculiar business with an elderly dog who has never once asked to see my editorial calendar.

Stick around. There’s more story coming.