Is anyone else bothered by celebrities or musicians who use the spotlight to spout off their political opinions at the most inappropriate times? I didn't come to the show to hear how much you hate George Bush. I came to hear some music. Get a blog like everyone else.

This is the great communication revolution!?

Internet forums make my head hurt. One of the reasons I find myself avoiding most online forums is the extraordinarily combative nature of most "discussions" found within. Apparently it's not enough to just make your point any more. No sir. These days you have to personally insult the person you're "pwning" with your erudition.

Let's take an example from the real world. Digg, a "democratic news site," is a good place to observe this activity since the vast majority of its user base seems to be between the ages of 13 and 17. This creates a two-fold problem: not only typically lack the maturity to have intelligent discourse, they have never known a world without the Internet. Combine this with the fact that Digg has sections for Political Opinion, Apple and Linux and you have a "perfect storm" of loud, obnoxious kids screaming at each other and trying to put each other down.

So here is a sampling from the thread attached to a link called "A rational debate on Net Neutrality." I don't think the irony of this situation could be any thicker:



Repeat ad nausium. Every so often I think about entering one of these "discussions" to try to make some sort of point or at least point out the silliness of it all. Then I just remember what they say about arguing on the Internet.

Reintroductions are in order.

This is a new blog. I guess that makes me a blogger now – although perhaps "again" would be more appropriate, as this is not my first blog. I used to skulk around LiveJournal, occasionally making a post but mostly just reading the journals of others. I do enjoy writing from time to time, though. I used to be an excellent writer, by most accounts. But lately I've let my skills of a writer languish. Maybe it's time to change that. Or maybe I'm just looking for attention. This is the Web 2.0, after all, and attention is the ultimate currency of the Internet.

So, me. I'm a fairly private individual, which is probably why I tend to give up on journals – I'm not terribly comfortable with strangers handling my private personal data. Yes, I do work in advertising and marketing, and the nature of my business might make me seem like a hypocrite to some. But I don't see it that way. Advertising is just a job. It's what I do, but it's not who I am. I'm in the job because I enjoy doing it, but it's not who I am. Judge me as you see fit – I am not defined by your opinions.

I'm going to force myself to write every day, or every other day at least. I'm quite opinionated and typically pretty forward with my ideas, but I have to admit that sometimes I have trouble processing what I'm really thinking or believing. For my own benefit, I need a space to crystallize my opinions. I need to get in tune with my consciousness.