Welcome to Inside Erie. It feels a little funny to offer a welcome three days after the debut of my first-ever blog, but there is a good reason.

I decided to launch this blog on Primary Night by taking my laptop with me while I crisscrossed Erie County to meet with candidates as they learned their fate. At each stop, I posted a new entry to offer some insights into what I saw and heard.

As a longtime newspaper journalist, it was an interesting exercise. I'm used to reporting a story, then writing it and sending it on to an editor.

On Tuesday night, I was literally writing as I was reporting -- and I was posting my reports without the aid of an editor or a copy desk.

The result was a series of organic reports on some of the behind-the-scenes action that was taking place on Primary Night.

I expect to do a lot more of that kind of reporting for "Inside Erie." This will be a blog that will be unlike any of the others that have been popping up in the small corner of cyberspace that focuses on Erie. It won't be a blog that simply collects press releases, offers off-the-cuff commentary, or regurgitates the morning newspaper or evening newscast.

Instead, I hope it will offer you a unique look at life in Erie through the eyes of a trained journalist. I plan to use my 13 years of experience as a professional journalist (including nearly six years here in Erie) to ferret out interesting news and perspective.

Some of it -- like Tuesday's Primary Night posts -- will be experimental. Some of it will be more traditional.

I hope it will entertain and inform you. And I hope it will inspire a dialogue.

If I make a point or offer an insight that strikes a chord (either positively or negatively), please feel free to offer your comments. Ultimately, I would like this blog to become the starting point of a conversation -- a conversation aimed at making Erie a better place to live, work and raise a family.

In any event, I hope you make this blog a regular stop whenever you go online.