so today i got back in touch with a friend of a friend who was interested in the fact that i went to J school and more importantly that i was trained in business reporting, and asked if i had a blog since he's an avid business news consumer.
that dreaded cloak of shame dropped over my head again because, really, if i want to be a writer i really need to be relevant on the topics that i will cover, and i've taken a really long break from it. since september i haven't been a subscriber to the wall street journal, and since september i've really ignored the business news world. but reality is hitting again, and i have to gird my loins and start spending hours online every day, re-tweeting and shit. i have this hot-cold relationship with online media. i'm either all about it, all the time, or i completely ignore everything related to news for months.
so my dilemma is this: do i start blogging on my current domain, or succumb to temptation and start a tumblr blog? i fall victim to the newest thing all the time in the blog world, which is why i've paid the price so many times. it's a personality quirk that is probably why technology keeps me interested - there's always something newer and better, and i like that. i keep blogger as a secret journal that's accessible to those who can find me, but one of the reasons i think i've stayed with blogger is because i'm not subjected to the public eye, just the three or so friends who actually read it once in a while, so it can be scruffy and low-tech. i don't need to show off multimedia skills, just pour my brain into a 300-word post.
i have to dive back into the digital rabbit hole. he's right, i know it, it's time to get back into the game.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
sunsetting the parents
my time at the retirement community is coming to a close. thank god.
after the Big Move on monday, my parents' new house - which i had earlier derided as cheaply constructed and pretty gross - is looking a lot better, now that it's filled with their furniture (far too much furniture, but that's another story). it's actually borderline cosy. yes, it's not the beautiful, spanish-style home that they left behind, but i discovered a joy of new construction - this joint is as tight as a drum. it heats up quickly and you can actually sit in the house without 3 sweaters and a coat and scarf on. (that is, if your mom doesn't leave the doors and windows open when it's 40 degrees out to "air out" the smell of her cooking.) most of the boxes that should be unpacked are unpacked, and we've even cleared the boxes from the foyer and kitchen.
my parents went from a four-bedroom, three-level house with more rooms than they could use to a house that is 1000 square feet smaller. there's one thing to be said about downsizing, and that is, just stop with the junk collection already. stop now, while you're in your 30s or 20s or 40s, before you get too old to lift boxes of your own crap into the back of a truck. junk is especially junky when covered with 30 years of dust. your children will not want your collection of beer steins or russian nesting dolls. if you haven't seen that brass korean hot pot vessel in a decade, chances are that you didn't miss it and won't miss it if you throw it out. ditto your college textbooks and that hi-fi system from 1993. my dad retained a box full of VHS tapes, despite the fact that they no longer have a VCR. this is the kind of thing that makes me, who has moved no less than six times in the past two years and faces yet another international move in a month, absolutely batshit crazy. i have thrown out enough clothing, shoes, grooming items and household crap to clothe, decorate and makeover a small country and its inhabitants. please stop with the junk. you don't need another vase or box of records. if your parents try to lob shit off on your, tell them "hell-to-the-no" and offer to drop it off at salvation army.
in preparation for this move, we made three trips to salvation army and one trip to the dump. we will make at least one more trip to good 'ol salvation army and another to the dump, and i argue that they still have far too much crap. but, it's their place, and although it's stuffed to the gills with furniture and multiple dish sets and plants, i guess i can stop harping. when i own my own home, which will be so sparsely furnished with crap you won't be able to cook or bandage a wound, then i guess i can talk. being mobile has the polarizing effect of making you hate stuff and making you really want a place to call home and park your grill and cuisinart. i look forward to it with a combination of fear and anticipation.
i return to civilization early tomorrow morning, and i can't friggin wait.
after the Big Move on monday, my parents' new house - which i had earlier derided as cheaply constructed and pretty gross - is looking a lot better, now that it's filled with their furniture (far too much furniture, but that's another story). it's actually borderline cosy. yes, it's not the beautiful, spanish-style home that they left behind, but i discovered a joy of new construction - this joint is as tight as a drum. it heats up quickly and you can actually sit in the house without 3 sweaters and a coat and scarf on. (that is, if your mom doesn't leave the doors and windows open when it's 40 degrees out to "air out" the smell of her cooking.) most of the boxes that should be unpacked are unpacked, and we've even cleared the boxes from the foyer and kitchen.
my parents went from a four-bedroom, three-level house with more rooms than they could use to a house that is 1000 square feet smaller. there's one thing to be said about downsizing, and that is, just stop with the junk collection already. stop now, while you're in your 30s or 20s or 40s, before you get too old to lift boxes of your own crap into the back of a truck. junk is especially junky when covered with 30 years of dust. your children will not want your collection of beer steins or russian nesting dolls. if you haven't seen that brass korean hot pot vessel in a decade, chances are that you didn't miss it and won't miss it if you throw it out. ditto your college textbooks and that hi-fi system from 1993. my dad retained a box full of VHS tapes, despite the fact that they no longer have a VCR. this is the kind of thing that makes me, who has moved no less than six times in the past two years and faces yet another international move in a month, absolutely batshit crazy. i have thrown out enough clothing, shoes, grooming items and household crap to clothe, decorate and makeover a small country and its inhabitants. please stop with the junk. you don't need another vase or box of records. if your parents try to lob shit off on your, tell them "hell-to-the-no" and offer to drop it off at salvation army.
in preparation for this move, we made three trips to salvation army and one trip to the dump. we will make at least one more trip to good 'ol salvation army and another to the dump, and i argue that they still have far too much crap. but, it's their place, and although it's stuffed to the gills with furniture and multiple dish sets and plants, i guess i can stop harping. when i own my own home, which will be so sparsely furnished with crap you won't be able to cook or bandage a wound, then i guess i can talk. being mobile has the polarizing effect of making you hate stuff and making you really want a place to call home and park your grill and cuisinart. i look forward to it with a combination of fear and anticipation.
i return to civilization early tomorrow morning, and i can't friggin wait.
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