Make No Mistake: this kind of harassment can be as frightening and as real as being followed and watched in your neighborhood or in your home. ~Vice President Al Gore

The first comment was rather innocuous, albeit grammatically incorrect: “ACTIONS SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS” It was submitted, in all caps, to my blog anonymously at 1:56 a.m. in response to my post The Power of Words on the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s death. I had embedded a YouTube video of one of Kennedy’s greatest speeches and I quoted:

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

I quoted it because some things bear repeating.

The second comment came two hours later and included an alleged quote from Buddha and some ramblings about “truth.” Signed, “Anonymous.” I approved both because though strange, they seemed harmless enough.

….CONTINUE READING AT TWC–>

AUTHOR’S NOTE: those of you (all five of my loyal readers) may remember this time, and may notice some differences in my Dear Anonymous letter. I have indeed taken some liberties with my own prose in service of creating a better, more cohesive essay.

Both manifestations have what could be considered an eye. Is this the opening up of the eye?  a reminder to see?  to look at myself.  Perhaps this is my third eye I am drawing.  I wonder if I will get to the point that I can just let it be.

Yes, I know this is only day two. Yes, I know, I am over analyzing.  It’s what I do.  What do you think?

I’m looking for blogs to read that are more of the telling stories variety and less of the the commenting on the news variety… especially if they are regional in nature (any region, but stories of the Southwest would be preferable)

Actually I’ll be writing a paper tentatively titled “The Emergence of Blogs as the New Regionalism” for my Contemporary Literature and Film of the Southwest class. I figured rather than reading all the blogs on the internets (technorati is tracking some 11 million blogs) I’d ask for recommendations.

If anyone has some suggestions, I would love to check them out….

Starting in January 2006 I started blogging for SanDiegoBlog.com. It was a community blog run by my dear friend Joe Crawford (one of the smartest guys I know). I blogged off and on for almost 2 years. The ads he had running on the site pretty much paid for hosting– his hope was that if it ever started to make money he would construct some sort of profit sharing, but it hadn’t come to that yet. No forms were signed, just kind of a internet hand-shake.

Joe, being the smart guy that he is, sold the blog. It was the wise thing to do. He had moved to Simi Valley with his lovely Leah Peah (another dear friend) and wanted to focus his energies on his new life up north.

Unfortunately he sold it to a guy that (1) has cluttered up the site with ads; (2) never ever emailed me (or any of the other regular or occasional bloggers that I am aware of) to introduce himself or to ask me (or any of us) to continue writing -or not and (3) there’s no info about him or about the site on the site– a personal pet peeve of mine especially if this is a business, which clearly it is.

And so my words are making him money (keyword based ad revenue). It ticks me off every time I get a notification of a comment– usually a SPAM comment– on one of my old posts. (Note I have not contributed to the blog since October 2007).

SO, since I can’t delete even my own posts, I edited them all…. they are now blank. Nothing more than empty (keyword free) space under some pretty catchy titles (if I do say so myself). Note my personal favorite title was “Oooo eeee” (for you Justin Wilson Cajun’ Cook Fans) to announce a Cajun Music and Food Fest taking place in San Diego.

My most commented post ever (47, baby) was “Wake Up San Diego”

Your city planners are trying to enact an Oversize Vehicle Ordinance (OVO) that will affect ALL citizens of San Diego. ALL vehicles over 7 feet high and or over 22 feet long, ALL utility trailers, and ALL recreational vehicles would be prohibited from overnight parking on city streets. Recreational vehicles, as defined, could park overnight up to 72 times per year only with a valid permit issued by the city. The San Diego business community will be drastically affected as the OVO includes street parking in industrial areas.

Note to any potential commenters on this issue, it is dead, decided, and I no longer live in or near San Diego so it’s not my issue anymore.

My personal favorite post was “Is San Diego a Literary / Artistic Wasteland”

Maybe I’m just naive. Maybe I just like Rich Baiocco. And maybe, just maybe, San Diego does have an arts community… and maybe, just maybe you have to open your eyes and look around. It’s there. Like Winter in San Diego its subtle, but it’s there.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the interview with UCSD’s Lit professor / poet Eileen Myles (she’s ready to move to LA because San Diego isn’t gritty hip enough for her):

Alone in San Diego: Gritty New York poet Eileen Myles struggles with life and work in a shiny, happy city by Emma Silvers

and local writer Rich Baiocco’s response via BlogSanDiego, I, Necrophiliac

So, SanDiegoBlog readers…. you know where I stand, so I put it to you. Is there art in San Diego? Can you be an on the edge, over the edge, standing on the ledge artist in San Diego?

That one didn’t draw as many comments –only 8– but it did get picked up by The Reader. And I got paid for it!

So all in all I don’t regret the time and words I spent at San Diego Blog, but it really would have been nice if the new owner had made some sort of effort to either keep the community going, or let us know what his plans were for the blog….

So, instead of taking Joe’s advice, “You might even offer up constructive criticism of the site to him, rather than go in with guns blazing,” I just deleted all my words, killed my darlings as it were…..
I am now free to be as noted on the tags (see right column) of this very blog…. or participate more on Duke City Fix — a true community blog / social network site for people that dig life in Albuquerque… or, hey, do my homework! write my book! (grad school update coming up next)

or do another bad bad thing….

• On this blog:  246

• SanDiegoBlog, the now junked up “community blog” with ads and no good content and no moderation of spam: 104 (MAS isn’t counting his posts over there, but I will count mine because even though the site now sucks, it was good while it lasted)

• JoeWelder.com:  81 (I’ll even count the posts from Joe Welder himself since I edit them and upload them)

• CarmenElectrode.com: 114

• Arc-Zone.net: 17

Guest Author at:

• AskPatty:  1

• RiskTakingForSuccess:  1

Total:  563

That’s a lot of blogging!

A meme is a cultural unit of information that gets transmitted from one person to another. Memes, like viruses propogate themselves. In the social science arena a meme can be thought of as tribal knowledge.

Internet Memes can also be cultural bits that are passed around like the warnings about deoderant causing breast cancer, or the laughing babies video… they become viral in that they are passed from one person to another.

In the blogosphere, a meme is propogated in much the same way a chain letter gets passed along– one blogger tagging another, often guilting them into participating. ;-0 and I hate it when someone tries to make me do anything….

But Martin was so pleased that he finally got tagged, a rite of passage he called, and then he tagged me, and I didn’t want to discourage him from playing on the internet, so here goes:

The Inquisition Meme

10 years ago
It was 1998 (Yeah! I can still do math –but I have to check my resume)
Ten years ago I was working as a computer consultant with my good friend. We had a consulting firm to help small businesses optimize their computer use: off-the-shelf software customization, contact management and accounting software deployment and custom database development.

5 things on To do list
1. Finish my You Like Play Chalk essay to turn into my Read and Critique group.
2.Pack a box. (I have goal of 1 box per weekend until I move)
3.Go through dresser drawer and discard items I no longer wear
4.Go to grocery store and make dinner (is that one or two ? they are related)
5.Help sister create a flyer advertising a Gyrokenisis workshop she has planned
6.Follow up on: estimate from movers, registration at University of New Mexico… hell, put together a list of everything I need to do.

yes I know that is more than 5 but I’m playing by my rules.

If I were a billionaire….I wouldn’t worry about paying for grad school! I would buy a house for cash for sure. I would get a massage once a week. I would travel all summer long…. I really want to go to Ireland. And Peru. Maybe a spa week at someplace like Rancho La Puerta. And a dude ranch. Maybe a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Oh, and Alaska… and the Sea of Cortez to see the whales. Better make a list just in case I become a billionaire.

I would set aside at least 10 percent for charitable causes. Of course I would give money to public radio, and cancer research. Maybe start a scholarship or grant fund for writers.

3 bad habits
Only three! Hah! OK well, I quit smoking so that can come off the list.

1. I don’t exercise. Which technically isn’t a habit. Exercising would be a habit. NOT exercising is just plain lazy.
2. I pick at my cuticles.
3. I procrastinate… terribly, waiting until the last minute to do almost everything. I’m sure I’ll be up packing all night the night before I move… for example. But I’ll surely have a list about it. (is that bad habit number 4?)

5 places I’ve lived
More than five places, again, my blog, my rules. In order:

Long Beach, Calif.
Alameda, Calif.
Long Beach Again
San Diego, Calif
Aiea, Hawaii (near Honolulu)
Vienna, Va (a suburb of Washington DC)
Del Mar, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
San Diego, Calif
Morelia, Michoacan Mexico (only for a summer, but I’m counting it anyway)
La Mesa, Calif. (a suburb of San Diego)
San Diego, Calif
Chicago, IL
Solana Beach, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
Leucadia, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
Del Mar, Calif
Solana Beach, Calif
and
…. Albuquerque, NM (beginning July 2008)

5 jobs I’ve had
Airline ticket delivery girl
(for you younguns, this was before the internet and email and electronic boarding passes)

Gift Shop Clerk/Birthday Hostess and sometimes Rat at Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater. Those character costumes are disgusting inside. Hot and your breath condenses on the inside of the mask, like everyone else’s before you… ew.

Secretary (I type 80 words per minute and paid my way through college working for a CPA)

Program Coordinator, International Visitors Council of San Diego

Director of Marketing and New Media

# # #

That’s it. If you comment, consider yourself tagged.

You make a lot of patronizing references to “people like you” and “the likes of you” as if you know me. You know nothing about me. And I know nothing about you. Maybe you just got fired. Maybe you just lost your best friend, or your spouse walked out on you and you decided to take it out on me. Whatever. Too bad. I am drawing the line here.

You consider my blog nothing more than me “spewing trendy blabber,” that I have no original thought and I say nothing relevant. Besides, as a marketing guru everything I write has a “hidden motivation.” So, I’m sure you won’t mind if I simply reject your comments.

And while I’m drawing lines. I will no longer accept Anonymous comments from anyone. I won’t go so far as to require you to have a Google account, however, if you don’t put your name or email or link to YOUR website on your comment, I won’t publish you on MY blog.

And if you agree with Anonymous, that my blog is irrelevant trendy blabber, then move on. There are some 10 billion other websites out there. Or make your own blog where you are free to opine until the cows come home.

Without me.

They had the opportunity to talk about the project, partisanship and politics and the upcoming election on the KPBS These Days program, hosted by Tom Fudge.

I must say, it looks like an interesting lineup of political bloggers. And of course in hindsight, it’s probably just as well I’m not in the thick of it. Now, I can focus on my other writing projects. So instead, I look forward to reading the blogs, commenting, and adding my own spin here on my own blog, on my schedule.

Have fun everyone.

And if you’re in one of the Super Tuesday States– DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!
And if you’re not registered to vote, you’ll miss out on the primaries, but don’t let the general election get by without your vote!

PS: it couldn’t be any easier to register to vote in California. Not sure about the rest of the US.

Let me preface the next commentary with saying that 1. I love KPBS and 2. I welcome the opportunity to apply for the Citizen Voices project and 3. I have no idea how I would choose blogger/writers…

HOWEVER.

The email request has been weighing heavy on my brain for the last four days:

We’ve finished reviewing applicants and have narrowed it down to a very small group. You’re in that group and we’re requesting a bit more information to better understand everyone’s political leanings. In no more than one sentence for each issue, let us know where you stand:

War in Iraq:

Immigration:

Health care:

Education:

Taxation:

Gun control:

Same-sex marriage:

Abortion:

Separation of Church/State:

In addition, we’d like to see more of your writing. Please respond (in 300 words or less) to this question:

If the presidential election were tomorrow, who would you vote for and why?

eeeeegads! The last assignment– to sum up who you are, and your “unique perspective” in 500 words– all of the sudden seems easy!

Issues like those listed above are far more complex than one sentence. I admit I stretched some of those answers as far as I could while still maintaining one, creatively long sentence. Hopefully that kind of creativity will count in my favor.

Anyway when I know more, I’ll share.

On another note… through my blog, and my application for the Citizen Voices project I “met” Aaryn, writer of RubySoho blog. We compared notes via email, read each others submissions, commiserated over the fact that we were “going for it” even though it was scary, and wondered what other San Diego bloggers had applied… She didn’t get into the narrowed down group. I’m bummed, as I’m sure she is as well. Do stop by her blog. Give her a read. She really is a good writer, and her posts and pics about her daughter are particularly fabulous.