TOO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG?

2011-01-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

Blogging is not new, it has been around for quite a while, and frankly, I am not totally sure it should even be legal. I don't take what others write in their blogs lightly and I encourage blog readers to do the same.

English author and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, coined the well known phrase, "the pen is mightier than the sword" and probably no truer words have been said since. One cannot just walk in to store and buy a machine gun because of the lethal possibilities yet anyone can set up a Blog Site. With the awesome global exposure provided by the Internet, a Blog instantly becomes a very large sword with world wide reach.

Before blogging one had to be rather determined in order to share their thoughts with others. Basically you would find sturdy wooden box , one that formerly held soap seems to be a common choice but, whatever you used it had to support your weight.

You then simply took your box and yourself and headed for the nearest open space that typically had a lot of human traffic. A city park, busy street corner, or the steps of your local city hall are typical starting points. Once there, you placed your box on the ground, got on top of it, and started talking.

The second option was to secure dependable access to some form of device that would produce printed paper copies in quantity. Then you wrote down what it was you wanted to say, made numerous copies of your document, and again went out to find a suitable high traffic location like described above and stood in that location and handed a copy to every person who walked by.

Both systems have their pros and cons and there are some Local, State and Federal regulations that you need to be sure you do not violate. Nevertheless, you will then, with varying degrees of success, get your message out.

Clearly, it's not High Tech but, it works and if what you have to say happens to sound like a good idea to those you have informed, it can work so well that its power can rank right up there with really dangerous stuff like Nuclear Weapons, Germ Warfare or A.I.D.S.

An exaggeration? I wish it was. Back in the 1930s, a paint and wall paper fellow was unhappy about the condition of the country's economy and had some ideas on how to fix it. He started talking in the local bars that were frequented by the common people who were tired of wages that couldn't keep up with inflation and a government that did nothing to help. The guy explained why the economy was bad and who was responsible. He talked about ways to fix these problems and ways to resolve matters that would restore the country to what it once was and give back to the people the quality of life they once enjoyed. His emotional speeches were well received and the listeners grew from a handful of people in a bar to thousands who filled sports stadiums. He went from an unknown, barely employed, paint and paper guy to Time Magazine's cover as Man Of The Year. His name was Adolf Hitler and his words were beyond any doubt, weapons of mass destruction.

So To Blog or Not To Blog? Did I have something to say that was in some way helpful? Maybe just being entertaining was enough and I have the ability to be funny, Then again I am also a serious thinker and have always strictly followed a policy of not opening my mouth to expound on something unless I have done my homework, put personal feelings on hold,and honestly took the time to learn and understand what others said and thought and had a pretty good handle on why they said and felt what they did.

For about a year there was a fellow in my hometown who took "Blogging" to its most primordial level. Long hair that was a stranger to soap, water, and combs, and he dressed by the random selection method and used the clothing donations box of a local charity as his closet. However his most significant piece of attire was that cornerstone of advertising, THE SANDWHICH BOARD. Here too, the construction of his sandwich board followed the same design concepts that he used for his wardrobe. Large ragged hunks of cardboard from the dumpster behind an appliance store assembled several layers thick by using whatever he could find in terms of old wire, string, packing tape, an old belt, clothesline, and twist ties.

His message? I'm not sure anybody knew since the front and back "boards" were covered with small unreadable hand written notes, news paper and magazine clippings of both text and photos that were also applied in layers and always too small to read at any distance over a foot away. There was however, one very legible corner, top left, front board that was cut from bright white plastic or other weatherproof material and contained just three words written large with big, permanent black, felt tip marker. The three words? "THEY HAVE SECRETS".

I DO NOT KNOW who "They" were or what the secrets contained and it is quite likely nobody else knew either. He always stood well back from the traffic at busy intersections and talked to himself, never loud enough to hear well but, enough to realize that he was clearly talking to another person who was either invisible or imaginary. I never saw him approach anyone to preach or panhandle. He was around for about a year and disappeared, maybe these folks have an agent that books their tours.

WHAT I DO KNOW is that I simply drove by him maybe a dozen times with each encounter lasting only a few seconds and that it was shortly after I graduated from high school. Which, as of 2011, happened 40 years ago. I am also positive that I do not know a single individual from 40 years ago, not even a close family member or a hugely world famous one that I can remember three words that they communicated in any way, EXACTLY.

OK, I think I have crossed the line that divides Blog Postings from Literature but it's my first. What can you expect to find here in the future? More words that I think should be helpful simply because I am a "Grumpy and Bitter Old Man". A lot of stuff has happened in my world over the years, stuff I am quite sure you might want to happen to you and stuff that's the last thing you would want to happen. Hopefully I can share 60 years worth of accumulated wisdom that you would otherwise have to spend 60 of your years to learn.

I will make you laugh, I will make you cry. Some of the time you will read things that might make you cheer or even boo but, for the most part I hope to really piss you off. Why? Because you will probably laugh, cry, cheer and boo pretty much superficially and just move on. If I can get you pissed it's tough to let it go and it feels awful. A pissed off person does not sit still, they make whatever is pissing them off go away, they get off their butt and create change. My generation tried to change things but our successes were few and it didn't take long for apathy to take over. The next generation seems to have simply picked up our apathy. They might grumble a bit but when faced with the opportunity to create genuine change they tend to pop open a beer and find a chair. The path of least resistance is their primary route. Be afraid, be really terrified, because for the first time in man's existence, one person can have the power to pull the big plug and terminate all life. Do you really like the idea that in 10,000 years somebody from another world lands on what's left of Earth and after a brief look around turns to another traveling with them and says, "Wow, these folks were idiots".

I think, therefore I am,
The Grumpy and Bitter Old Man

The Grumpy And Bitter Old Man

TOO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG?