About My Websites

Once upon a time (and again now), I managed websites for (part of) a living. Comments on (and Wayback Machine views of) about those are here; everything else in this section pertains to my own site (the one you're looking at).

beginningwithi.com: Why the Name?

Oct 15, 2005 / April 1, 2007

My dad once said that, if he ever gets around to writing an autobiography (and I wish he would), he would use rivers as a theme, because many important parts of his life have been spent near major rivers (from the Mississippi to the Mekong).

I thought about this, and decided that my own autobiography should be titled: "Countries Beginning with I." Italy and India, obviously, are a large part of my life, while Iran, Iraq, and Israel have all had major impact on the world during my lifetime (and will likely continue to do so). I have also lived (briefly) in Indonesia, so we can check that off the list. Which leaves Iceland and Ireland - hugely influential neither in the world nor in my personal life, but I hear they're nice places to visit...

I have also spent a great deal of my life in another country beginning with I, the Internet: as of early 2007, I have been online for 25 years.

I don't know when I'll ever get around to writing my autobiography, but my website is that, among other things. So I have set up a new domain, beginningwithi.com. I figure that'll be easier for people to spell than Straughan (as long as you remember that there are two Ns in the middle of beginning).