They say that a thousand monkeys banging at a thousand keyboards will eventually produce Shakespeare. I disagree. I think that long before the monkeys approach Shakespeare, they will be sidetracked by a career in daytime TV.

I almost called this blog "The Thousandth Monkey," but only a handful of people would appreciate it, and they would expect Shakespeare. So we'll go with "Mental Blog," a name hokey enough for everyone to enjoy without hurting themselves.

"Mental Blog" will consist of random entries, plus my cartoon "Snapshots," a column called "So It Goes," some pictures, a little video, and who knows what. Your suggestions are always welcome. I may laugh at them with friends, but they're welcome.

Entries will be short like this one because we've all got better things to do. I, for one, have to feed the monkeys that are writing my columns.