When I started the blog up five years ago next week, I needed a name. “Gary’s Running Blog” was already taken. Pretty much every title with the word running in it was taken. What to do?

In times of crisis, always turn to the prophet Stephan Pastis.

Mo has a T-shirt with a “Pearls Before Swine” cartoon on it. Rat and Goat are looking up at Pig, who’s sitting atop a tree. They ask him what he’s doing. He says he likes it there. Rat explains that he can’t stay there for no reason, because society will marginalize him. To which Pig replies:

I figured what the heck. It didn’t make much since, but my writing normally doesn’t either. And I suspected I’d lose interest in blogging within a couple of weeks, so why worry too much about a title.

I suppose I could’ve picked a better name, but five years later it’s like an old friend. There’s something oddly satisfying to hear someone say “Hey, I saw blah blah on Margarine.” It just sounds right.

Someday Parkay will offer me a bunch of money for the domain, and I’ll end up at “Gary’s Running Blog” at last.

Till then, margarine it is.

Now you know.