an open letter to tysdaddy

by Mark Hammerschmidt

I met this guy named Brian some time ago. I’m not sure exactly how long it’s been. Maybe a couple years. Online years tend to blend together way more than regular physical years (maybe that’s why everybody is in such a funk… we’re spinning in a blender of physical and online years as we merge technology with our everyday lives). Brian and I have never met in person and we’ve only spoken on the phone once and it was mostly trying to figure out Spotify.

A while back, I started writing a version of this blog (I deleted it in an attempt to go off the grid right before I embraced the grid, which was a huge mistake as I've never been able to come close to matching my readership of that first blog). At the time, I was working on networking and increasing readers, so I was commenting on a lot of other blogs, trying to bring readers to mine. That’s when I came across The Cheek of God. I really liked it. It touched a chord. This guy was sappy and funny and he thought the same way I do about a lot of things. Mostly about how you can still be a loving and spiritual human being after breaking from religion. So I started commenting. And my plan worked. He visited my blog and started commenting.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I self-published a book of flash fiction (which is still available here… wink wink nudge nudge). Brian was the first person to buy it.

Since then, we’ve gotten to know each other, pushed each other’s writing, and (I can’t speak for Brian but as for me) he’s helped me develop a greater understanding of who I am by realizing that I’m not entirely alone in my ways of thinking. He’s helped me learn that there are people out there who have lived entirely different lives than I have, yet we are all connected in our desire to love and be loved. He's forced me to stop settling for gimicky rhetoric and fill everything I write with soul.

And now, I wouldn’t hesitate to call him my friend. And if we lived closer, I’m sure we’d hang out from time to time and talk about how our pasts have influenced our presents.

So what am I getting at? Well, that was a long introduction to a brief letter.

Dear Brian,

You have not posted to The Cheek of God in over 2 months. And even then, your posts were growing few and far between. Please start posting more frequently. When you don’t, I tend to start rambling about politics. Your beautiful posts about life, family, humanity, and love are what inspire me to make my writing more personal and less soapboxy.

Your immediate attention and remedy to this matter are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely and selfishly,

Mark Hammerschmidt, president of your fan club