I just found Bob's introductory post on Gowanus Lounge, when it was on Blogspot.com, the free blog platform originally used by Bob. In his own words, he talks about his career in journalism and his plans for his blog. It is dated April 27, 2006.

Welcome to the Gownanus Lounge (Beta).
Gowanus Lounge is the culmination of months of rumination, if not
planning. It will seek to cover, through words and pictures, whatever
moves me, with a particular focus on New York City as it is today and
is becoming. The focus will be Brooklyn–and particularly Gowanus, Red
Hook, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Williamsburg and
Dumbo–with frequent excursions into Queens, especially Long Island
City. Manhattan, too.

Up front: While I am a realist about what
cities need in order to survive and thrive, I am not a fan of what is
happening in our communities, and particularly of the looming
Manhattanization of Brooklyn and of the ongoing Theme Parkization of
Manhattan. The blog side of Gowanus Lounge will be joined, some months
down the road, by a literary magazine intended to feature the work,
especially, of Brooklyn-based writers, and stories that feature a
strong sense of place.

At least, that is the plan.

For
now, Gowanus Lounge is in its beta version. I put it up with the
intention of getting feedback from my girlfriend and friends, but it is
together enough for those who click a link or stumble upon it.
Hopefully, you'll be curious enough to come back.

Although
I've got plenty of mainstream journalism experience under my belt, I've
edged into blogging, learning from my some of my favorite blogs and
sites: Curbed, Gothamist, City Rag, Daily Slope and others. Ironically, my photography and my postings on flickr, which were turning into an ersatz photoblog, nudged me into finally taking the plunge.

For
many years, I worked at National Journal in Washington, writing serious
policy and political stories before life took me in a different
direction. I learned at the side of Neal R. Peirce, the founder of the Citistates Group
and one of the great urban writers of our time. Neal is the smartest
and most thoughtful person writing about planning and development
issues that I know.

These days, I run a small community newspaper, and write short fiction which appears monthly at Cherrybleeds and creative non-fiction drawn from a previous chapter of my life, also monthly at Underground Voices.
I also take a lot of pictures. If I were to spend time with a writing
psychiatrist, he or she would likely tell me that I have several
personalities and that they are not well integrated.

I don't take myself as seriously as all this might make it sound.