Over the past couple weeks, by popular request, I have been working on cataloguing posts on this blog more effectively than I have using tags over the years. Instead of going to a laundry list of posts, the links in the site menu now go to permanent pages with lists of past pieces that will allow you to link to things I have written in certain categories.

This is not an exhaustive effort. I have deemed a healthy chunk of my posts not particularly interesting to my future self, and I made no effort to categorize those ones. So, if you are passionate about random articles I have linked to or the scintillating drama of Duluth politics in 2013, you will still have to dig those ones up yourself.

Nonetheless, it was a fun exercise to go back into some past writing. For the most part I think my older posts hold up pretty well, though as with anyone who puts thousands of words out into the ether, there are bound to be a few bad takes here and there. In general I also think we owe our younger selves more grace than we normally give them, and I don’t feel the need to run from things that I might word differently now, or may no longer fully represent what I believe.

I am also not posting links to the fiction I’ve posted on here, in part because almost all of it is undergoing edits offline, and in part because it may just be going away from here entirely as I move toward doing something with it. If this stuff interests you, please reach out to me directly.

I am putting a link to this page on the “About” page, so an explanation of all of this is readily accessible. The categories I’ve chosen are as follows:

Reflections: The catch-all for my musings on life. It includes subcategories for writing-related announcements and the year-end reflections I have usually written.

People: Appreciations of and reflections on people in my life, including wedding celebrations and remembrances.

Journeys: Tales of travel far from home, in what has become some of my favorite essays to write and revisit, especially as major journeys become a bigger part of my life. Includes sections on two cities I where I have lived in the past but no longer do, Washington DC and Minneapolis.

Upper Midwest Adventures: Travel nearer to home for me, including outdoor adventures and road trips in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan.

Duluth: As you’d guess, commentary on the Minnesota city where I’ve spent most of my life, a source of both tribal loyalty and occasional rumination.

Hockey: My writing on hockey, including subcategories on Duluth East and more general pieces on high school hockey in Minnesota.

Politics: Scattered commentary on affairs both local and national.

Books, TV, and Film: Reviews and commentary on media I consume.

These may change over time, and I’ll make any necessary updates to this post.