OK, so I stole the title from the Air America guy, Al Franken.  Don't agree with his politics all the time, but you have to admit he's a funny guy.  And, if people with his viewpoint some day take over, you probably WILL have to admit he's a funny guy.  Or go to one of the reeducation camps.

I've seen my blog mentioned in a few other blogs this week.  It is appreciated.  If I did the "aw shucks" routine and said I don't like to see my blog noticed it would ring false.  Who among us hasn't enjoyed seeing those e-mail notes come in when you get comments?  It's addictive.  I like blogging, like the people here, and always enjoy writing something people seem to enjoy.  I don't mind at all being criticized because I've learned alot from those comments as well.  For one thing it never hurts to have the air let out of your baloon before it (and your head) get too big. 

The "Cal Ripken" of bloggers?  I read this recently about myself on another blog and was horrified.  There were maybe three Orioles fans who didn't like Ripken very much and I was one of them.  I thought he hurt the team by not taking a day off now and again (this was when they were good and it mattered) and he got into some ugly contract negotiations that made me suspect whether he was as loyal to the Orioles as he claimed.  But he was a very good, not great, Oriole and from interviews he's done I think he's matured alot over the years.  Then again, maybe he was a good guy all along and it was me that matured.  Hard to say.

But I do blog everyday, so the Ripken thing (which was a nice compliment, or at least a recognition that I show up every day) is appropriate.   Why blog daily?  Laziness.  If I didn't, then I'd find excuses not to.  And I'd like to see if I can get better, develop a style, learn something about writing (which I've always enjoyed).  I figured I'd blog daily for a year, then cut back some and try to think more about what I'm writing before I post it.

NGS3?  I'm sure one is coming, less sure I want to take part.  I had a blast the last time, and it's because it was so much fun that I may pass next time.  Two reasons.  First, winning won't make you rich and you aren't going to become the next Damon Runyon (by the way, great collection of his newspaper columns out in paperback).  So, if past contestants like myself step aside and make way for new writers it's not like we're going to lose out on a chance for fame and fortune.  Which isn't to say winning can't help a young writer.  I'm hoping Ty Hildenbrandt and HiPlains Drifter get a chance to write for a living some day, if that's their goal.  Good guys and good writers.

The more important reason for not entering (and yes, it is presumptuous to speak of it as if you would get a place among the 16, I'm just assuming that for arguements sake) is that it's such a great experience that everybody really should get to do it at least once.  It was fun, flattering, built up an audience for my blog, and (in my case) exposed some holes in my writing.  And in my spelling, but that's another story and I still don't know how to spell Nowvitski.   The point is,  it's an experience, and now that I've had it I think there are plenty of other people who would enjoy it just as much.  I wouldn't want to knock one of them out IF I got picked.  So, it's probably "pass" for me next time.

Someone else mentioned recently that I stayed out of the blogtroversies (my own term).  The writer is one of the guys who likes to mix it up a bit and what he said made me think.  Is it good manners, lack of guts, or something else that keeps me out of the back and forth discussions that take place on controversial topics?   Well, being from the South one of the first things my mom told me was not to talk politics and religion with people.  It stuck with me, for better or worse, because I never have wanted to do that and risk alienating friends.  But for those bloggers who want to generate some light by generating some heat, good for them.

Finally, I want to start commenting more on other blogs, even if it means writing less.  There is a reason they call it a "community" and not a writer's convention.  I've been guilty of not commenting on others blogs because I spend so much time writing my own.  I'll gradually find a balance there that probably involves writing less and participating more.