It seems everyone has a blog these days, so maybe I’m just jumping on a bandwagon. Only in my case, the bandwagon started rolling about ten years ago, and I’ve jumped on and fell off more than once before.
I’ve started a blog three times now. Like a lot of things I try, it never sticks. I don’t have time, I have a daughter, I have a job, and I have a life. Turning my life and thoughts into compelling prose is challenging. I read good books, like to eat good food, and travel occasionally. But most of my life is nothing more than mundane.
Ad Punctum
Originally, I named this blog Rash Elvis Chants, an anagram of my name, an example of my often mixed-up thought process.
I renamed the blog in 2017 to Ad Punctum, Latin for “to the point.” I wanted to rework the blog as an act of personal resistance to the anti-intellectual tone in America today, exemplified by the duplicitous grifter placed in office largely by people fed a steady diet of Faux News.
What can you expect to find here?
Opinions, book reviews, observations, and occasional technology tidbits that I run across. At an earlier time, I was focused on books, and things here in the Triangle, and I will write about those topics again.
As I say in my tagline, everything here is 100% organic, pesticide-free, cruelty-free web content provided by yours truly. No bullshit. If I state an opinion, it will be labeled as such, and facts will be referenced.
Who is Chris van Hasselt?
Short answer, me. Longer answer, just a guy, an IT worker for an international public health non-profit based in Durham, North Carolina. When I am not working, I eat, watch bad tv, play guitar, and sleep, not necessarily in that order.
Essays
In 2010, I joined a Toastmasters group at work. I joined because, as FHI 360 (formerly FHI) grew, we expanded into two buildings. As a lowly IT guy, I rarely get to see people in our other building, where most of the action is. While I only see a few people, it has been a great chance to meet more of my colleagues. I decided to add my speeches to my blog just so readers might learn a little more about me. Where possible, I’ve modified the speech slightly to make it a more reader friendly writing sample, rather than a speech. I’ve tried to edit the speeches to make them less “speechy” and more like true essays.
Since I first posted these speeches, FHI 360 has moved into a posh downtown Durham location next to the Durham Bulls ballpark, and I quit Toastmasters.
