Welcome to Greg Howard's Blog

This is my blog. I'm calling it "Derailed Boxcars" because, when viewed from a distance, I imagine my rants and musings will seem random and scattered--like train wreckage, or my bottom teeth. (That's not completely fair; my teeth were heroically repaired by Dr. Underwood some 30 years ago, and he has the lake house, pontoon boat and four Sea-Doos to prove it.)

So why have a blog? Isn't a blog just an enormous vanity project? Don't I usually mock people who are self-aggrandizing and pretentious? Aren't I, Greg Howard, a man who would never blatantly place his name within a sentence, above stooping to such pitiful levels to get attention? And don't you think four rhetorical questions are excessive?

Of course all of these are true. But not all blogs are created equal. Like Jonas brothers, their quality and worthiness can vary dramatically. I've read some blogs that are exceptionally erudite, helpfully instructive, spiritually inspiring, and profoundly comforting. This blog, thank God, will be none of those. That's a promise. Well, more like an Obama promise; I may need the wiggle room to change my mind if the mood strikes me. I see the world the way I see the world--it's impossible to explain. It just is. So here goes. I'll start by attempting to share some of my musings from the past few years. Enjoy. Or leave this blog to get some yogurt in the refrigerator. It'll be easier to digest.