Opening Lines

"It was a dark and stormy night . . . "

--Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . "

--Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

"Call me Ishmael."

--Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Someday, I suppose, children will be taught to recognize the great first lines not just of literature, but of web logs. If that day comes, I'm afraid I will not be a test answer like, say, Matt Drudge or Arianna Huffington. So I am going to try to make up in body copy what I lack in an original and memorable opening line.

Welcome to my blog, Chip Weighs In. This is where I will literally do that, if I ever go back on a diet, and certainly where I will figuratively do that, on a variety of topics. Such as? Well, it's spring, when a young man's fancy turns to . . . "American Idol," of course! But in the fall it may be the presidential race, and the rest of the year, who knows? Restaurant reviews, theater criticism, pet peeves, random thoughts--the only thing I can guarantee you is, if you don't have an opinion on something, you can come here and have mine.

"White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities."

--James Lapine, Sunday in the Park with George