If you already know me, you're well aware that I love to write.
Luckily, I get to do it for a living. I'm a sportswriter for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, covering a wide range of topics and teams but primarily focusing on BYU athletics.
The phrase "dream come true" gets thrown around a lot, but that's exactly what it is for me. Getting to watch and analyze sports, write about what I see AND get paid for it? Pinch me.
Writing is a joy for me. Even though I'm already doing it to the point where the government taxes me for it, I want to write even more and get even better at it. Thus, writing a weekly blog post felt like a good idea, especially if it helps me play less Xbox.
I've been kicking around the idea of a blog for years but just never got around to it. I'm not sure why, but this past week I felt like I needed to finally make it happen, and so here we are. I look forward to eventually finding out why it needed to start now.
So, about the blog's title.
Back at McLean High, I wrote a humor column for our school's newsmagazine titled "Payne-ful Thinking." Unfortunately for me, it wasn't very funny at first. Payne-ful indeed.
I eventually got the hang of it, churning out content such as chastising our student body for the demise of school dances and offering college admissions assistance as a self-proclaimed expert, having gone 1 for 1 on schools I applied to (thanks, BYU).
Truthfully, one of my main reasons for starting the column was to include this sick photoshopped logo on top of each entry.
As a newly-driving teenager, an image like this felt like the definition of "h*ck yeah." I thought it might boost my coolness factor around school. Girls in my grade didn't agree. Someday humor columnists will receive the love they deserve.
When it came time to name this new blog, there was no better place to go than back to the past. Payne-ful Thinking lives again, but this time with a less ambitious logo made to resemble some early 2000s Washington Redskins branding. What else would you expect from me?
I want to be consistent in writing a new blog post every week and do something different each time.
There will be plenty of sports talk, but also a good amount of my thoughts on music and movies as well. Yes, I know I’m shamelessly ripping off The Ringer. Sue me, Bill Simmons — or at least let me do a podcast with you.
Sometimes I'll write thorough reflections of the past, other times I'll jot down something funny that happened to me that day.
While I'll probably get spiritual and serious on occasion, hopefully each entry contains at least one or two quality laughs. I'm not trying to change the world here, we're just having fun.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what this blog becomes over time and hope you'll come along for the ride.
Let the Payne-ful Thinking commence!