A Spin-Off of a Spin-Off

I was 9 years old the first time I wrote something that appeared online. In a world where the internet was exploding and parents didn’t know enough to realize they should be worried about the unfettered access at our fingertips, I had joined a Harry Potter site. You got sorted into a house, could play games, take fake classes; I loved it. It also had forums on it, the first time I’d ever seen such a thing, and the more I dove in, the more I noticed that on some of those forums people would essentially write stories together (roleplaying, for those in the know).

I was hooked.

Writing has always been an on and off passion of mine, more off than on as life’s gotten busier around me, but whenever I’m not doing it I find myself missing it dearly. I’ve tried many outlets for it, leaving a minefield of half-written stories in my wake. On this very Substack you can find my work about a fictional football team I followed during COVID and the community we built around it. That project was itself a spin-off of another fake-football-team series, which was itself a spin-off of a Substack/SB Nation series following a fake basketball team. In the intro to that one I called it a Spin-Off of a Spin-Off, an acknowledgment of its silly origins.

As I stared at the screen trying to think of what to call whatever this Substack would become, I was deleting the old bio until A Spin-Off of a Spin-Off was the only thing left. And I decided to leave it.

I think it may be the most apropos way to describe my life and career so far. Not in some diminishing way. I’m truly the happiest I’ve ever been in almost every single aspect of my life right now. But in my 33 years on this planet I’ve at different times taken serious steps towards becoming, or been, the following:

A Lawyer, A Pastor, A Missionary, An Accountant, A City Councilor, A Brewer, A Canvasser, A Bartender, A Teacher, A Guidance Counselor, A Banker, A Sportswriter, A Bookstore Owner, A Salesman, An Account Manager, An Economist, An Occupational Therapist, A Statistician, A Customer Service Representative, A Franchise Owner, A Data Scientist, A Software Developer, and I’m sure a dozen more.

But those ideas, as scattered as they may seem on this page, have always led one into the next. I don’t see them as disconnected, I can see the thread between them clear as day. Just as I can see the thread connecting that Harry Potter roleplay site to my love for storytelling to why I felt called to start this Substack. And maybe that’s what this place is for: pulling on those threads in public, to see where they lead.

Drafting is a working title, a play on brewing, coding, and writing, as well as the fact that I’m unsure what this space will be. I’m guessing the title will stick, even as I’m writing this unsure I’ll share the space with anyone at all.

Technology and Business will likely get the most attention; it’s where I live now. But my love for Sports and Stories isn’t going anywhere, and it’d be dishonest to pretend Spirituality and Beer won’t sneak in too. The whole premise of a Spin-Off of a Spin-Off is not picking a lane.

I wrote this piece to provide some insight into what my vision for this place is but, as you can likely tell, I’m having trouble defining it.

So I’ll define Drafting as one thing, and it’s the way I would define my entire life’s journey up to this juncture.

A Spin-Off of a Spin-Off.

Welcome in.