Mission

Hello Everyone.

While I watch it rain in San Francisco, I’m of course reminded of November in New England. And of course, that means all of you too, who I hope to be seeing when I cross the continent for Thanksgiving.

Since, I’m now officially a web developer, I’ve been thinking more and more about how people live in this crazy, god-forsaken internet age. While the internet has ruined print journalism, the film industry, the music industry and our collective attention span, I hold out hope that maybe, just maybe it can give us new tools for getting along with each other and maintaining relationships.

I find that when I’m communicating with someone I haven’t talked to in awhile, text sometimes exceeds talk. I find myself more gregarious with distant friends in an email, and somewhat awkward and restrained on the phone. With me in California and you all scattered across the East—and occasionally Europe or Bali—we lose tract of addresses and job changes, upcoming graduations, milestones, etc...

So, I’m launching this blog, the Hirsch-Jenkins-Ferris-Etc. Family Togetherness Project. I envision it as a space to post life updates, notify of address changes, announce travel plans, discuss potential family fun activities. Maybe someday we can post images of the next generation or maybe it will serve as Exhibit A for our lawyers to use for messy estate disputes of the future.

It’s easy to get started. Blogger is one of the more intuitive blogging platforms. I’ve invited you all as authors but you do need a Google account to post. Feel free to invite significant others, in-laws or close friends to view and/or add to the discussion. I recommend you follow this blog, which means you'll get an email every time there's a new posting. After you set up a Google account, click on the Follow button to the right of this post.

If anyone needs help managing the publishing process, let me know. Maybe I’ll post an online tutorial.

Let the juices of blended family togetherness flow. Like these people:

Or, better yet, these: