An Introduction

There are several questions that I think need answered before I begin blogging.



Question one, why am I blogging?
Well, for starters, it is because, my wife, Amy, and I are expecting our first child, a son - Ryne, this fall so...Well, I thought that blogging would be an easy and fast way for people to follow the growth of our son from afar. I could upload photos to Facebook, but with this blog I can add narrative and video! I can think of several grandparents who will love that, probably a couple of aunts and uncles, and maybe even a couple of friends. Secondly, I love writing; little known fact that I've kept a journal of some form off and on since high school. And finally, I love being up-to-date with technology. Blogs are very common in the culture of the United States today so why shouldn't I have one? Eventually, I might (hopefully) expand the scope of my blog, but for now I will just use it as a method to communicate what my family is doing.



Question two, why is my blog titled Second to None?
Recently, while in Chicago with my brother, Kyle, I told him the title of my blog and he immediately thought it was an arrogant title on my part. It's not what you think...Growing up I had two favorite baseball players: Bo Jackson and Ryne Sandberg. The Cubs were and are my favorite baseball team, and that is where Sandberg played. (This is how Ryne Ewald got his name; Amy and I had a deal. If our child was a girl, she got naming rights and I got veto power. If our child was a boy, I got naming rights and she got veto power. I won! She chose Ryne instead of Adrian (Clayborn) and Nile (Kinnick).) I resume, in the early/mid nineties Sandberg wrote an autobiography. For some reason I thought that his autobiography was titled Second to None. I really thought that that would make a great title for my blog; I would be incorporating Sandberg with his autobiography title and my son who will be second to none. I Googled the book title to make sure that it was correct...I was wrong, his book was titled Second to Home (Sandberg was a second baseman). Regardless, I liked the title Second to None much better so that is how it was decided (it has nothing to do with me, Kyle!).