Blogging is unique, and though I do not claim to have a unique blog, I at least have a new sense of what it is I am doing herein. Blogging is more vital than a book or novel; it is more dynamic, precisely because unlike a book, it need not ever remain fixed. A book is edited and re-edited, then finally bound and shipped here and there. Only the luckiest authors have two, three, or even a dozen tries at perfection, in multiple printings, proofs that their works are desirable and perhaps enduring. But the blog is more alive than any printed book; for it is never perfect, nor is it ever complete.
Thus, in a roundabout form of apology to my readers, I confess to having re-worked some of my recent posts in order to purge them of inanities (and insanities); and sundry manglings and misspellings. My own pride at my prowess notwithstanding, I've been mystified by the inexplicable appearance of several horrifically drafted sentences and paragraphs in my recent posts, replete with mispelled words and dubious logic. OK. So I wish I were infallible; omniscient. But the veil has been pulled away from my eyes. I see my own slovenliness in humbling clarity. I am fallen.
A note about this blog, if one can call it a blog. It is more a collection of essays; a digital portmanteau in which I carry my writings from one manic episode to the next. Alright. So I am not really manic. Nor am I saying anything injudicious about mania. In fact, I even have friends who are manic. ...
But back to the blog. Please note that today marks a turning point. I have posted a photograph in my profile box (and what a picture it is). For those who know me, the photo should inspire a chuckle or two. For it at least reveals something about me: It shows something that I wish to reveal about myself; as surely as it shows what I want to conceal. I'll let the reader guess. But, should anyone be squeamish in the presence of such raw art, I promise that the picture will be periodically updated with other photos even more revelatory (though hopefully not more revolting).
Furthermore, I will be introducing photographs into the body of my blogs, beginning, well soon. My intent is to make the blog less "gray", as we say (or used to say) in the newspaper business. The pictures posted will be entirely irrelevant to my essays, but they will at least give you something to look at before you quickly hit the 'back' button on your browser.
Lastly, as you can tell, today's post is not issue-driven. I need a break from all that, in part because I am rethinking my place in commentary. Writing mostly about politics might be a pleasant indulgence, but it is an indulgence nonetheless. Besides, there are plenty of other voices out there, voices belonging to sharper minds and quicker wits. For a conservative, one look at National Review, for example, serves as a reminder that there are deep and agile thinkers around, men and women who have complete mastery of subject and word. Why bother with my layman's approach? And for a liberal, you pretty much have the world at your fingertips: The New York and LA Times; the Washington Post; CBS, ABC, PBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, Link-TV, and the NASCAR channel (purely for derision, of course). Why bother here?
OK. So I am thinking aloud, so to speak. I am not going anywhere. I will be here, tapping at keys like so many hands knocking on doors; like mendicants in the street, tapping cups on concrete, looking for something that will give them hope. I am the beggar. I beg not only for your pardon and patience. I beg that clarity of voice and vision will come my way.
Peace to you, this day.
Contratimes
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