Crossing START A BLOG off my to do list was an attack against procrastination, a powerful agent in the world of writing. As one friend put it, "I don't know any writers who like to write. They like having written." Furthermore, the use of quotation marks (QM's) here is quite a liberal one, being as I was paraphrasing from memory. Let's face it, Q's are better. I worked as a journalist for a small Southern California newspaper over the course of a year, and for extra money I decided to write a pointless opinion piece that my editor neither requested nor necessarily wanted, about the Happy Holidays sign the city hung from the lamp posts on Main Street. In an attempt at secret sarcasm, I wrote that several citizens about town appreciated the cultural sensitivity of Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. I made up Q's and asked friends if they wouldn't mind having said them. None of them minded. So, in a way, it seemed to me, the Q's were okay. I mean.....kind of.....right? (probably not) The article led to weeks of letters to the editor from concerned Jewish scholars to angry Christmas celebrators battling cultural sensitivity vs. meat and potatoes American customs. It was the most attention any of my articles ever received, and by "the most," I mean to say "the only." (More QM's!!)
I realize my QM's justification wouldn't be good enough for Edward R. Murrow or George Clooney, but I like it for this blog because without making a few things up, how can I write about hiking without having to hike? I guess I could keep describing Malibu Creek State Park. How many entries would that fill?
Hey, M*A*S*H got eleven seasons out of it.
