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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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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.
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Daily Blah for... Sunday, November 10, 2002
Progressive Blues
I haven't allowed myself to think much about the election results yet. Chances are that somehow I'd feel personally responsible for them. Not in any logical way, nor even in any mystical, karmaic, butterfly-flapping-its-wings way. I just always feel guilty when progressive parties lose badly. When the left lost the UK general election in 1992, I couldn't write -- and could barely speak -- for about a week. The sense of personal responsibility was overwhelming. I don't know why this should be, but I'm sure some amateur psychiatrists out there could explain it. I guess I just get too involved, too wound up, in the political fate and future of nations. I get too invested in wanting common sense and the common man to triumph over special interests and special forces. This, you see, is why I don't cover politics.
Early Wednesday morning, as soon as Jean Carnahan conceded and the GOP took the senate, I took out my frustration on all those cardboard boxes from the crap I get mailed every day (see Blahs passim), tearing a laundry room full of them into recycling-sized bits. By the time I learned about Mondale losing Minnesota, a thin veil of rationalization had been draped over the situation. It's all for the best, I told myself, because it means the Democrats get a good reality check way before 2004, and it increases the urgency to find the perfect candidate (step forward, Senator John Edwards). These things always happen in swings, I told myself. And when I learned yesterday that Nancy Pelosi, my very own representative, is in line to replace Gephardt as House minority leader -- the first female leader of any party -- it cheered me up immensely.
The veil, of course, is gossamer-thin. It ignores all the damage Bush can do over the next two years (absent a couple more Jim Jeffords). It turns a blind eye to all the judicial nominees that will get free passes. As sweet as Pelosi's appointment is, it matters not one jot next to the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned. Sigh. And when that happens, I'll probably feel responsible.
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