If you're new here, I just want to say how much I appreciate your dropping by! Oh, and you may want to subscribe to my feed. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to ya!

In broad terms, Middle Zone Musings can be described as mostly a collection of personal stories illustrating pithy observations, random thoughts, lessons learned from life, and - of course - musings about life, the universe, and pretty much everything.

You’re invited to come back every now and then; maybe even join the conversations from time to time. It’s a comfortable place to stop and have a cup of coffee; a place to exchange ideas, big or small. We don’t ask for much; just a bit of your brain every now and then. Pull up a seat, take a load off, and relax…

C’mon, put your feet up and let’s visit a while.

The Way Things Are Around Here

Here at the Zone you’ll mostly find stories. However, every now and then you’ll find something else thrown in (mainly to help keep me from taking myself too seriously). I’ll try not to, er, “wax eloquent”; most articles are about 1,000 words or under, and can be read in about 5 minutes if you’re an average reader (by way of example, this page contains exactly 1,000 words).

(NOTE: By the way, should you have questions or comments on anything you see at the Middle Zone, please drop me a line, or use this handy contact form.)

Things You Might Want to Know

Rating – For those of you concerned about these things, the Zone is rated G. I make no apologies for that; it’s just the way I am. You can rest assured that all posts, guest posts, comments and links will, to the best of my ability, always reflect this. (So far it’s only come up once, and that was a while back.)

Comments – The Zone automatically requires moderation of only your very first comment. Once it recognizes you (and unless Murphy intervenes) you are free to comment to your heart’s content! For the sake of the conversation, please try to stay on topic. So far I’ve only manually deleted one non-spam but off-topic comment (and it was ‘way off!).

Guest Posts – I’ve only had a few guest posts so far, but the floor is open. If you feel you could write something that a) “fits” here at the Zone; b) can be told in story form (preferable, but not absolutely required), and c) contributes to the General Body of Knowledge (in other words, it has value), then contact me (see above) and let’s talk!

Monetization – Up to now, I’ve resisted the idea of monetizing the Middle Zone, so other than that little SiteGround ad (for which I get a free 3-month extension from my hosting company), you won’t see ads on this site. I must admit, though, it’s mainly because I’m too lazy to pursue the nitpicking details required to actually make a non-trivial amount of revenue from it. (It’s certainly not because I don’t have enough readers to justify it. But I digress.) At this time, there are no plans to change.

Regular Features At The Zone

Group Writing Projects – Once a month, kicking off on each First Monday, I host a group writing project called What I Learned From… (affectionately known as WILF). Each month is dedicated to a different topic, and the project is open to anyone. We’ve completed quite a few successful projects, and you can find the entries for all of them here on its own WILF page.

Great Quotes – Monthly, I serve up a page of quotes from the famous, not-so-famous, and the infamous, collected during the month. Always good for inspiration, and sometimes a chuckle or two. You can find them all by going to the archives page and clicking on the “Great Quotes” category button. It’s a great way to wind up a month!

OOB – Another highlight (also at or near the end of each month) is yet another feature called OOB, which stands for “Out Of the Box”. (Why is it not OOTB, you ask? Isn’t it obvious? It’s because OOB is a lot more fun to say out loud, silly!) It’s a sampling of weird, whacky and wonderful things gleaned from the Blogosphere. Once again, you can find them all by going to the archives page and clicking on the OOB category button.

Random Stuff

Memes – In the past, I’ve participated in my share of memes (and even started one or two). While there are plenty of good meme ideas wandering around out there, I’m going to stick with my lessons learned from life theme. So unless the meme allows me to respond to it in story form then I probably won’t participate. (Besides, you can only answer the “10,000 Random Things” question a few times before it gets kinda old.)

Link Lists – Likewise, after initially participating with considerable enthusiasm in various link fests, over time I’ve come to realize it’s not worth doing only to improve my own rank. While it can affect rankings (at least temporarily), it’s artificial at best and really does little to add to the only statistic that really matters: Does it provide value? Better to publish links only if they provide some sort of value to those who follow them, I think.

eBook – If you’d like a taste of what the Middle Zone has to offer, I’ve written an eBook that contains six of my favorite early stories. Go here, download (it’s free) and read Poke It With A Sharp Stick. Over 1,000 copies have been downloaded already (did I mention it’s free?), and it’s freely distributable to your friends and enemies alike. You can even print a copy; it’s suitable for sharing around a campfire, lining the bottoms of birdcages, or perhaps wrapping fish.

Well, there you have it, friends; everything you wanted to know about Middle Zone Musings and more. Take your time to peruse all there is to offer: check the archives, wander around, and hey, while you’re here, contribute a comment or three. Thanks a whole heap for dropping by!

And as always, a big tip o’ the hat to ya!