Welcome listener, reader, and, dare I say, friend,

Mark this date, February the 6th, 2009 in the year of our lord, because from here on out, the internet is never going to be the same.

This is the maiden voyage of my new, weekly column, Carey On, Everyone. The column will be a dedication, an homage, and a celebration of UCLAradio.com News Department director Carey Shenkman.

Let us start at the beginning, with a quick foray into the conceptualization, incubation and actualization of Carey On, Everyone (C.O.E.). Now, I’m not the sort of person to use the phrase “divine thaumaturgy” without serious hesitation (mostly because before reviewing my thesaurus.com search results for “phenomenon”, I had no idea that it existed), but the conceptualization of this column could not embody the essence of the word more.

A few weeks ago, I lay awake, tossing and turning, trying to reach the sweet embrace of sleep, staring up at the stucco pattern of my apartment’s ceiling. Slowly, my vision started to blur, and the individual stucco granules began to dance before me. Where seconds before a ceiling of sub-par quality and make had stood, now appeared to me as what looked to be the stars and planets of the glorious heavens.

I looked down and saw that I was no longer in my apartment, but floating thousands of miles above the earth, dancing amongst the stars. Suddenly, a figure composed solely of pure light appeared to me and began gliding gently toward me. The figure grasped me and cradled me tenderly in its arms. I heard a soft whisper.

It spoke not human words as you and I know them, but seemed to diffuse a crystal clear conception directly into my mind.

That conception: Carey On, Everyone

The light-essence kissed me warmly on the brow, and suddenly, my eyes slammed open and I was back in my apartment. I sprung out of bed, and for several hours penned page after page of notes— some in prose, others as poetry, as well as several realistic figure-sketchings that, for several moral and legal reasons, will likely never be released for public-viewing.

So, here I am today, a humble columnist bringing you the best in Carey Shenkman-related news and musings. I apologize that this introductory post contains little actual Carey material (or as I refer to it, Carr-terial) or insight (Carr-sight), but I know that with this introduction, the following posts will be all the more satisfying (Carey-fying).

I leave you with my fondest wishes, and this week’s image of Carey.
See you next time, and ’til then, keep “Carey-ing the torch”!

–Michael