Circumlocution for Dummies: Be vigilant!

Since most all of the anticipation-filled electronic locals seem to be posting reminders about the upcoming BlogFest soiree, I figure I should do something along those lines.

I’ll start with this comment that was posted at Another Monkey a while back...

Annee Mchughes said...

Mark's my cousin and I love his style. We come from a long line of writer's. Blogging is neither dead nor dying but will continue to morph with time. Those who first blogged discovered a way to share their thoughts publicly without cost or submission required for paper publishing. All writers get writer's block from time to time, we get busy doing other things or simply experience burn-out. No writer can ignore the urge to journal indefinitely. Twiddle and face-space sites will never replace the true art of writing. Blogging is not about interaction, although comments are a by-product. Blogging is not about net-working or connecting. It's all about expression. Period. And writing, pen/keyboard-wielding friends, will never be a lost art! My own blogs (too many to count) are stagnant because of lack of time and energy. But I will go back to them or write new ones when the storm blows over. Because that's what this writer does. That's two cents worth from this "penurious" writer...

10/16/2009 11:46 AM

When first I ventured onto the then fledgling Internet, I had yet to run across the words blog or blogging. And when I did discover what they meant and that they could and later would be applied to my efforts, I was reluctant to use either of them. Because, in my mind I was writing and not blogging.

Back in the day, local polibloggers tended to hide behind screen names for fear of retribution, problems with their employers or because they were woefully short on testicular matter. Hell, we’ve still got a local poliblogger who refers to himself in the third person. And he thinks we don’t know who he is. Big dummy.

I, or course, loudly, proudly and probably stupidly attached my name as well as my picture to my words. Oh, and my address.

And as some of you know, that led to some official intimidation, chest-bumping, verbal toe-to-toes, bicycle chases around town and a seemingly endless array of middle fingers being prominently displayed no matter where I went.

But once people arrived at the fact that I would remain undeterred, they retreated and resorted to anonymous electronic sniping, which, to be honest, still cracks me up to this very day.

Hey, have at it. I surely know the laughable drill by know. I’m bald, fat, ugly, unemployed, ignorant, pompous and in the loop for a cushy city job. Call me anything but a pussy.

Now, I bring up what it was like in those earlier days to make the huge leap, the comparison to what it has all become today. For the most part, less guerilla tactics and much more acceptance, that’s where it’s at. Or, at least, they tolerate us to some degree.

I shot this so-called secret video at the first Operatic Society & Incest Creek Mud Wafters event I attended in 2006. Those Operatic/Incest gatherings have come to be known as BlogFest events, and are now much better attended. I actually posted pictures of some of the attendees from that long ago night, but that went down like a case of oozing genital warts at a gang bang.

They were later deleted. Such was poliblogging at that time.

Secret Video (0:38)

Did you check that shortest of videos? It’s hard to fathom that that--a handful of people clamoring for filled ashtrays--could morph into this…

Times Leader: Getting the message across by the minute

And this…

Citizens‘ Voice: Candidates meet the faces behind the screen names

These days, it seems as if we walk a fine line by partying with the movers and shakers, while reserving the right to criticize them when next we post. The latter of which can lead to accessibility issues for those who dare venture into that world of localized politics.

As for myself, I think I have carved out the easily niche by which to blog about local issues. If damn near everybody hates your guts from the get-go, then you don’t have to concern yourself about who you might annoy with the next posting.

And if you care not about who might be annoyed, then the dreaded writer’s block never really kicks in. Or should I say, self-censorship.

Look, I’ve been threatened with lawsuits, sued once, promised fisticuffs and spat upon. I once tricked a local talk show host into ranting and raving about an April Fools post of mine. I’ve scooped the newspapers so many times, my old site used to be mentioned as Wilkes-Barre’s third newspaper. They way I see it, if you’re in, then you’re all in come what may.

We live in Corruption County, Pennsylvania where county commissioners, county judges, school board members, lawyers and prominent entrepreneurs have been jailed for their various and sundry misdeeds.

And if we’re going to finally do away with the rampant culture of corruption that persists to this very day, we’re going to need as many people as humanly possible paying attention to those we elect, as well as to those they appoint.

Despite what some may tell you, in this traditionally tainted culm pile of a place, we don’t have too many bloggers, nor could we have too many.

Be vigilant!

A moment it time, November 23, 2006...