November 16, 2008 – 8:16 am
The Anal Retentive Disney Visit
I am just going to put it out there. I am anal when it comes to certain things. Blogging is one of them.
For a long time I have been thinking about blogging. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts, discussing the issues of the day, and basically blowing off steam. Sounds like a great idea. The birds are chirping and sky is blue.
Then there’s this ivory piece of paper that sits before me and follows me around the room. It says Bachelors of Arts in Journalism-Print. That changes everything. It keeps asking, did you research that before you wrote it? Can you back up your sources? Are your sources credible? Is this just your opinion or is it fact? So many questions to answer.
I had a twitter exchange with someone a headhunter looking for bloggers. They suggested that they would love to higher former or current journalists but they had a somewhat “elitest” attitude toward blogging. I don’t find myself with the same sentiment, especially since I have never worked as a journalist or writer. But, I do understand.
Citizen Journalist
This is a term I have never cared for, mostly out of prejudice. I believe that there are some responsible citizens that can report the news, but, to call them journalists is another thing. I felt somewhat justified in my when during the whole iReport and Steve Jobs heart attack fiasco. I thought that we have taken this citizen journalist thing way too far. Apple’s stock dropped more than 5% that day and it hasn’t really recovered.
Bloggers
I like bloggers. I like reading blogs. I think that the difference between blog and news is that news is supposed to be unbiased and opinionated, blogs don’t have to be. There are many responsible bloggers that do the research and write about things that they know. Then there are those that don’t. I believe that eventually it will all shake out and the cream will rise to the top.
I, Anal Blogger
In the meantime, I am trying to reconcile my journalistic tendencies with my need to write. To that extent, I probably will write less often because I will have to balance it with my need to make sure that everything I write is well thought out and researched. I know it sounds crazy, but, I am trying.
November 15, 2008 – 7:45 pm
I am so very tired of hearing about Sarah Palin. I don’t want to see her, I don’t want to hear about her, I don’t want her invading my head. She is like the annoying song that you can get out of your head until you pass it along to someone else. Well, I would like to pass her on to someone else. Who will take her?
She doesn’t have a passport, so I can send her to another country. I am sure that she would like to follow up on her call with France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy. I am thinking that she might like to flirt with some more after their great phone chat. I wonder if his wife would be threatened by former beauty queen runner-up.
November 3, 2008 – 12:10 am
Today is the day that I write my first official blog post. I wanted to wait until this day for two reasons. First, today is my birthday. (I am XX years old!) Second, it is the eve of a historic election that could change the my life and my children’s lives forever.
I remember when I was in high school, I didn’t pay too much attention to politics, I wish that I had. It never occured to me how much electing Reagan as President would impact my future. My mom told me that I had Reagan to thank for cutting my educational benefits. You see, my father died when I was seven and my mother was retired on disability, so, the money that I would have received to help with expenses during college was cut by Reagan. I survived, but, it was hard. I ate a lot of shrimp-fried rice from the carry out.
Now, here we are on the eve of an election that could have the same life-changing affects. If Obama wins, the achievement bar will be raised for every non-white child in America. That would be a good thing. On the other hand, if McCain wins, my daughter faces a life deprived of the right to choose and my son faces certain danger since he is only eight years away from having to register for selective service. With McCain in office, we most certainly will be at war with someone even if he is dead and gone. More than likely, we will have to resort to the draft.
Hello World! Do me a favor, as a present to me. Get out to vote! More importantly, get out to vote for Obama and make sure your friends and family do the same.