Origins

I used to publish a small zine (1995 - 2006) called The Lummox Journal. For most of its years it was a monthly affair, which proved to be a daunting task. It wasn't for lack of material, because after the first year or so, I began to receive a lot of submissions. It was mostly poetry and mostly bad, but I was able to glean some gems from the debris, enough for each issue. Over time I also began to receive essays and reviews from my readers. So really, the only thing I had to do was arrange the text and write the lead essay, a sort of "from the Editor's desk" article. This is where the title of this Blog comes from.

For over one hundred issues I wrote "The View From Down Here". I don't think I ever repeated myself, though I did borrow from past themes from time to time. Sometimes the essay was political, sometimes it was personal. I had free reign over what I wrote about (it was my magazine after all) and although I tried very hard not to go overboard, occasionally I did. Then I had to deal with the consequences. It was an interesting learning curve. Eventually, though, the deadlines and the constant need to create an interesting issue began to take a toll on me and I knew I had to take a break. So at the end of 2006 I ceased publication.

This year I put up an issue on my website because I missed the process. At first, in 2007, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I didn't miss the whole anal business of meeting deadlines and promoting the Journal at every opportunity. But slowly it began to creep into my thoughts and I realized that I missed doing it.

So what I'd like to do here, is resurrect some of the old essays from back in the day. Hopefully they'll reach a wider audience than the 175 or so subscribers I had back then. I'll probably write some new material too, once I get my "sea legs".

Raindog