A diary is defined as, "A daily record, especially a personal record of events, experiences, and observations; a journal." When I was young, I always hoped that I would be able to have a diary to look back on years after I filled its empty pages. As a teenager, I started diaries several times, but gave up because I could never maintain it properly - either because I skipped several months at a time, or just stopped writing in it after only a few entries.

When I joined The Brooklyn Baron, I needed to write an editorial column for the paper as part of my duties as Editor-In-Chief. I decided that instead of writing editorials about current events, I would write a daily, personal record of my events, experiences, and observations. I figured that columns like that would let the reader get to know me, while at the same time offering inspiration and encouragement.

Little did I realize that when my first column was published in March of 1997, I was inadvertently beginning the ultimate diary - one that would stay with me for the next seven years - and spawn an additional 625 entries.

Even now, as I reach 100 for the sixth time, I marvel at the fact that this column has been a part of my life for so long, not only following me down the road of my life - but recording all that I have experienced over the years. I can literally open pages of my books and revisit almost any period of my life since 1997. From the trips I took to South Park, Colorado and Juneau, Alaska in 2001, to the series of columns I wrote about the Subway Series of 2000, to the time I was rediscovering my hometown while working at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1998 - to the daily events of my life following the September 11th atrocity. Good, bad or indifferent - it's all there in black and white.

But of all the columns I have written, and of the five other books of 100 columns I have published - none are more personal or more painful than the last 100.

After September 11th, my life was never the same again. The Paul Wein that existed on September 10th is gone and has been replaced with someone who has seen much more than I ever cared to see. I have also endured many stresses following 9/11, including having to purchase my own publishing company thanks to the greed of a notorious publisher, dealing with people that took advantage of me to almost unrecoverable proportions - and almost losing everything due to a very hard financial period. Dealing with all of that would be difficult for anyone, and it was extremely difficult for me. Besides effecting me physically and mentally, the stress I endured brought me to the point where I stopped writing - and temporarily closed my diary - not opening it again for almost a year.

When I did finally decide to write again in August of 2003, I had in me a fire that longed to put thoughts on paper again. And as soon as I wrote the first one, which chronicled the events that led to my hiatus from writing - I knew that this series of columns would be my most emotional - and now that I have reached 100 - I see that I could not have been more right.

For a guy, I have some pretty strong emotions, I will say without embarrassment that I cry at movies, feel pain for others when they are hurt or sad - and always try my hardest to make everyone happy. That emotional behavior also finds its way into my columns. In fact, there are times where I find myself laughing hysterically as I write certain columns - and crying while I write others. It was during these last 100 columns that I shed more tears in the form of written words than ever before - even more than the columns I wrote following the September 11th attacks. At the time I wrote those, I still had all of my emotions bottled up inside of me, so those columns were written more from a matter-of-fact prospective than an emotional one. It was in this most recent series of columns that I finally let all of the emotion from everything I unfortunately witnessed during that tragic time pour out of me and into my columns. Couple that with discovering the beauty of children, getting closer with my family and very good friends - and happily purging feelings I had for individuals that caused me sadness and heartbreak - and you can see why these last 100 columns have been the most emotional I have ever written.

And now that this chapter of my life is over and another book of my thoughts can be closed, I intend to move forward toward the rest of my life and the next 100 columns not with emotions over old hurts, rants against those who have done me wrong - or painful dissertations over traumatic events - but instead focus on what lies ahead rather than behind. With only 32 years behind me, I have so much of life ahead of me that I want to see and experience. I want to visit new places, meet new people, experience new challenges and opportunities - and maybe even find true love. But whatever may lie ahead for me, I will look toward the rest of my life with an open mind, a positive attitude, a happy heart...

...and 100 blank pages.