David Rodeback's BlogLocal Politics and Culture, National Politics,
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Thursday, July 27, 2006Happy Blogiversary to MeNo one else asked to, so I interview myself in honor of the occasion. Today is the second anniversary of my first blog post. This is my 304th such post. As expected, no one has offered to interview me for the occasion, so I will interview myself. Q. Is blogging fun? A. Usually. Q. Is it difficult or time-consuming? A. Sometimes. Q. Aren't you too busy to blog? A. Probably. Q. Ever write anything you wish you hadn't? A. Yes. Q. Do local officials ever tell you things off the record? A. Yes. Q. I mean besides your wife, a.k.a. your favorite city councilor? A. Yes. Q. Do you always give one word answers? A. Certainly not. Q. How can I get longer answers from you? A. Ask questions that require them. Q. How would you characterize your audience? A. Small quantity, high quality. I don't have a lot of time to study server logs and assorted statistics, but I'd ballpark it at a few hundred. I don't hear from most of them, of course, but some I do hear from include a variety of local elected officials, an assortment of attorneys scattered around the West (mostly relatives), and an editor at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC (also a relative). Q. Do any of your readers worry you? A. I worry a little about the ones who say they get all their news from my blog. I don't recommend that. And I worry a little about the ones who tell me they read late at night, when they can't sleep, and sometimes wake up their spouses with their laughter. I'm not that funny. And the reader who told me he used to have time to blog until he started reading mine is really on his own. Q. Why did you start blogging in the first place, and why do you continue? A. Two questions, same answer. One of my purposes is civic: I think government, especially local government, needs to involve a great deal more information and discussion. I hope to encourage and contribute to that. One of my purposes is personal: I enjoy writing. It keeps my skills honed and is probably also therapeutic. It's almost a compulsion. I have worked as a writer and have taught writing, and someday I'd love to make a living at it. Q. Do you think that is likely? A. No. Q. Do you think you're making a difference? A. A small one. A large one would be too much to hope for. Q. Which blog post has been the most fun? A. It's hard to say which I most enjoyed writing. But if you want to measure by which I most enjoy reading later, it would probably be one of these less political posts:
Q. Which are your favorite blogging acronyms? A. I think I coined BMA (Big Media Acronyms) as my own slightly derisive version of MSM (MainStream Media). And I'm fond of, but don't claim to have invented, LBB (Life Beyond the Blog). Both are very useful concepts. Q. Do you host your own Web server? A. Yes. There's an old PC in my basement that I use as my server. My excellent Internet service is AFCNet (American Fork's broadband system), and my ISP is AFConnect. Q. What software do you use for blogging? A. Fog Creek Software's CityDesk 2.0. Q. Do you make any money at this? A. Not as much as I spend. A few pennies here and there of Google ad revenue. Q. What are your favorite interviews? Is this one of them? A. No, my televised favorite is anything with Robin Williams and Johnny Carson, especially the Robin-Does-Shakespeare stuff. My favorite printed interview is Mark Twain's "An Encounter with an Interviewer." Q. Would you ever run for office? A. Probably not. Q. Why not? A. I don't like to lose. Q. Will there be some sort of a contest soon, with prizes? A. How did you know? Later this year I will announce a contest with actual prizes. It will probably be in connection with Groundhog Day, and, knowing me, it may well involve limericks. Q. Any hopes for the next year of blogging? A. Two. First, I'll still have my municipal broadband service. Second, more reader comments. Third, as much as the Republicans don't deserve to win in November, I think the Democrats are increasingly unfit to govern, so . . . Republican victories in November. Q. I thought your skills in basic arithmetic were better than that. That was three hopes, not two. A. They used to be better. I haven't been getting enough sleep. Q. Are you doing anything today to celebrate the anniversary? A. This is it. Otherwise, it's an ordinary day of work, after which I will perform a marriage ceremony unrelated to blogging and then attend an American Fork town meeting about the new budget, about which I will probably blog. Q. Can I interview you again for your third blogiversary? A. I'd like to see how you report this one before making a commitment.
Copyright 2006 by David Rodeback. |
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