The Blog

I bug my friends sometimes. I tell them I hardly write anymore. I moan and complain. They tell me ‘write a blog.’ I ignore them.

The reason I always give when I discard the notion of blogging is money: it has taken me a while to figure out that while I need to eat, I write for reasons other than money.

I’ve been a professional ink-stained wretch for a long time – hell, it’ll be 30 years this May. The way it goes is I write a story for somebody, they run the story (and even if they don’t), and I get paid. The concept of writing with no guaranteed income for my time is foreign to me. Just seems wrong.

But the newspaper business is a dying market and the freelance market is getting squeezed more and more each day because someone forgot to tell the fresh-faced journalism graduates that the newspaper business is a dying market.

I remember when I graduated from J-School, all wide-eyed and idealistic and excited to be venturing forth into such an uber-cool profession.

I wonder if today’s grads feel the same way? I hope so.

To be sure, there are options out there in the online media sector, but I haven’t done a good job of keeping up with changing technology – I’m pathetic, actually – so those roads to riches are unpaved and my skills unproven.

So if I want to stay in top shape (and if I ever want to finish the book I barely started two years ago and now sits in limbo, metaphorically gathering dust and literally wasting hard drive space) I have to write.

A blog it is.

I agonized a bit over a subject because I didn’t want it to be totally random. That’s too much pressure, to be honest. If I’m going to engage you with poetic musings about whatever strikes my fancy that day, it better be damn good.

Am I that good? We’ll see. I can turn a clever phrase from time to time, but those three decades as a professional journalist has taught me that maintaining that level of excellence on a consistent basis is illusive. 

Hard, too.

I’m going to promote Oshawa and Durham when I can – the Shwa needs a booster, and I’d like to be that guy – and I’ll touch on some current events, a little pop culture and some random thoughts on whatever as well.

Hopefully it won’t be crap.

Cheers!