Knowember

Hey there! Robert Birming is hosting Knowember this month, and I love the idea. You share one photo, answer three questions, and we all get to know each other a little better. So here I am!

A photo

Name or nickname

I’m Toby Overstreet, but just Toby is fine.

Fun fact: I almost wasn’t Toby at all! My dad wanted to name me Frederick, after my papaw. My mom had other ideas. She picked Toby after seeing Elvis play a character named Toby Kwimper in Follow That Dream. Mom won that one.

My middle name, Dean, comes from my dad’s middle name, and it goes back two or three generations in our family. For a couple of years, my closest friends even knew me as Dean.

Growing up, I never really had a nickname. My mamaw called me Tobby, and some of the kids I hung out with in junior high and high school called me Tobias, just for fun.

Here’s the funny part: in 8th grade, our whole homeroom got stuck with the nickname “Motormouth” because we chatted way too much and hardly ever paid attention in class!

Then after high school, I earned the name “Tobster.” Why? Because I was the king of Jägermeister! I could knock back up to 10 shots in one night at the clubs, and most of the time, they were free. Man, those were some fun nights.

Where do you blog from?

Elkhorn City, Kentucky! It’s a small town of about 900 people, and I live in a tiny house in a holler at the foot of the mountain.

I spent 28 years in Washington, DC, before coming back home. These days, I love my quiet little small-town life.

Here are a few fun facts about my little corner of the world:

• Elkhorn City is the easternmost town in Kentucky. One step farther east and you’re in Virginia.
• It started out as Elkhorn, named after an elk’s horn someone found on the creek bank.
• Kentucky already had an Elk Horn, so the post office went with “Praise,” after a tent revival camp.
• The town became Elkhorn City in 1912, but the post office stayed Praise until 1952. So for 40 years, folks got their mail from Praise!
• Just a few miles away, Breaks Canyon is up to 1,600 feet deep. Folks call it the “Grand Canyon of the South.”
• In 2023, elk showed up near the Breaks for the first time since the 1800s.
• Every weekend in October, a dam upstream releases extra water into the Russell Fork, turning it into some of the toughest whitewater around. Rafters and kayakers come from all over to ride it, and Elkhorn City even hosts the closing festival.
• Up the road in Pikeville, they literally moved a mountain to stop the flooding. Only the Panama Canal moved more dirt.

Want to see more of my little corner of the world? Check out my hometown photos.

What is your blog mostly about?

Oh boy, where do I start? I’ve been blogging since 2004, so yeah, I’m kind of a blogging dinosaur. It’s been Dean’s Cyberspace, then Technogeek Notes, and Toby Geeks Out! since 2021. The whole story is in The Long Road Here.

These days, it’s mostly Word Nerd Alert posts, movie and TV ratings, and updates on what I’ve been watching. But when I’m really into writing, anything goes: news, politics, health, tech, AI, even home decor. Whatever’s on my mind!

I’ll be honest, I’ve drifted away from blogging a few times over the years. The latest was after Blaugust this past August, and I haven’t written much since. But I always find my way back, and I’ll work on getting back into my writing groove again.

Still curious? You can find even more about me on my About page, or dig through all my categories in the Archive.

Thanks to Robert for putting this together. If you’ve got a blog, jump in. I’d love to get to know you too.