I have been told, that there are literally brigades of readers“ clamoring” for more of my writing and insightful thoughts, at least that’ s what the Terwilliger says. So, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you out there for following me through all the wasted years of loyalty to this column, all the wasted time you will never get back from reading this. Your support and loyal readership never ceases to amaze me, you have let me evolve,( as you shall soon see) let me take chances and most of all you have made my efforts feel worthwhile. I take my work here to heart and though, I know I’ m not saving the world, I hope to make it a better and more enjoyable place for you to live in. I try to cover the things that unite us, such as BEER!! So, I’ ll be here for you to put your feet up and enjoy a beer or two. Please, go ahead pop a top and waste some more time with me.
One day as I was dropping a“ deuce” and contemplating what beer to drink next, a vision came to me, like manna from heaven. I wondered how many articles I have contributed to this newsletter over the years? Since I have in my possession, at least to my knowledge, ALL Border Batch newsletters, I took some time and looked back at these. My first piece that I wrote was in the January 1996 newsletter and concerned my Red Wing cone that I discovered. This article did not have a header and as you will see the headers have evolved over the years. My next column was a guest column using Tom’ s“ Beer Treking” header and was the January 1998 newsletter. Why 2 years passed before I wrote again? I was attending advanced courses on Linguistics.
After January 1998 I stared writing articles at a furious pace,( This was after I graduated from Harvard) and most newsletters I contributed 2 articles and at times even 3 columns. Burned up a couple of keyboards during this time. Just could not keep writing enough for the clamoring hordes. Now, here are all the headers that have graced my articles.“ Vice Presidential Ramblings”,“ A Brew With The Veep”,“ A Brew With The Vice Is Nice”,“ Backwash”,“ Jay’ s Soapbox / The Beatnik Poet”,“ Keeping Pace”,“ 25 Beers Ago”,“ Struttin’ With Da Prez.”“ 50 Shades of Jay”. I think I personally like Backwash the best. I think that was all, at least that’ s all I found. While going through these, I would read some and laugh my ass off at the shit I wrote. Plus, lots of old pictures and memories that I had forgot. So, how many articles did I write? My count is 74 and this one makes 75, of course. Wow!! I would guess the only other person who has contributed more articles would be Tom T.
I need to re-print just a bit from my“ Jay’ s Soapbox” column of July 2006.“ Welcome to the Beatnik’ s Soapbox. First off, this Soapbox has a new policy. It is the Soapbox’ s editorial policy that the readers shall have no voice whatsoever and that this Soapbox shall be a one-way conduit of information. This Soapbox shall be, reserved for the exclusive use of, myself, to advance whatever opinion or agenda I see fit. Go ahead and put that in your corncob pipe and smoke it. I will also try and serenade your frontal lobe with facts, fantasy, maybe some poetry and plenty of bull.” That made me laugh. Fun to go back and read these old issues and articles, not just mine but, others as well.
After 75 columns and thousands of words, you would think,“ ain’ t this knuckleheaded fool going to shut his blowhole?” Yes, that would be a good assessment. But, yet the masses clamor for more and more shall you receive. I’ m actually considering gathering all my articles and consolidate them into a book. Maybe make the New York Times best seller list, who knows? Ok, so I have illusions of grandeur. In this new year, I will be even more opinionated and will dig deep into the issues that affect you, the reader. No fake news here, just facts. Since looking at past articles, I would almost always close with a“ Quote of the Issue”. I used this quote in the January 2005 issue:“ A mind the caliber of mine, cannot derive its nutriment from cows” George Bernard Shaw. That one made me laugh again. Till next time,
Jay Martin # 16605.
Page 4