|
|
Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
RSS feed coming soon!
Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Tuesday, February 05, 2002
I wake up to news via e-mail from Emily that I'm number 124 on the MIT media lab's revered Blogdex. By the time I check it out myself, I'm number 107. Woo-hoo! At this rate, I'll be in pole position by the end of the day. "Be afraid, be very afraid if you get on the front page," she says -- not a phrase journalists are used to hearing, as a rule -- "cos then you really will be inundated. When you find yourself click on sources and you can find out what people are saying about you."
What she should have said was:
"Be afraid, be very afraid. You can find out what people are saying about you."
This, as anyone who has read Alice in Wonderland knows, is more of a curse than a blessing. Right now, six other bloggers are saying things about me, and their comments vary from the snide to the envious to the neutral. James Arnett writes:
"An interesting proposition: see how an actual Time Magazine journalist compares to more impromptu webjournalists like say,Michele and Jonno."
Fair enough, I think. But then he adds:
"For my money, I'd vote for Jonno and Michele."
Not realizing the obvious (that he knows these people and he doesn't know me; that I'm a faceless corporate goon to him, of course he's going to side with the little guys) I furiously click on Jonno and Michele's links and immediately look for faults to pick with them. Finding the odd spelling mistake and embarrassing recitation of song lyrics, I smile. Then I check myself. What am I doing? This isn't a popularity contest. I'm not running for class President. Who am I, Tracy Flick?
Meanwhile, Molly notes in her blog: "It's nice to see that a real-life journalist has just as much mundane stuff going on as the rest of us." You'd better believe it, Molly. Right now I'm battling off PR flacks on the phone, wondering what to have for breakfast and whether I should go grocery shopping before I fly to Orange County tonight.
And Daniel Taylor, a.k.a. The Dreaded Purple Master (nice to see that love of purple runs in the Taylor genes -- I'm obsessed with that color too), opines wistfully: "Boy, I wish I could advertise my blog in Time magazine." Be careful what you wish for, Daniel. I'm getting showered in mail (including some helpful soul who pointed out, in answer to my last post, that my hosting company will only handle 100,000 hits a month). This thing is getting too big. I never intended it to compete with anything -- heck, look at how minimalist this page is -- but now my competitive urge is coming to the fore. I feel like I need to preemptively hire a manager, a publicist and a team of writers.
And I still haven't had breakfast.
|
|
|
|
