Recently, I’ve been kind of quiet, I know. It’s hard to explain why; its not like there’s been any dearth of news. Obviously, I, along with every other journalist, has been watching with horror what’s happening to the L.A. Times and every other newspaper out there. And as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve also been busy preparing for a WordPress Workshop (which we’re soon going to open to non-AAJA members, freakin procrastinators, so let me know if you want in) and just all around busy with chapter business, work and trying to keep my home not so messy. Heheh, God knows I have to start some 2009 files.

But its also that…I feel like I’m not able to do with my blog what I used to do — complain, whine, be fearful, mull things over, be angry or happy about things and in general freak out. And maybe that’s just the nature of blogging — it began as online journaling and evolved to become topic-focused commentary. Very few bloggers are able to continue to use their blogs to pour their hearts out anymore. I think Dooce may be the highest-profile example to still do so, but she’s earned the right. Me? I once scoffed at the idea of these high-tech douche bags using moleskin notebooks rather than their PDAs or laptops to jot things down. It may not be moleskin, but tonight, I did become a douche bag with a leather notebook, stuffed into my purse with my digital camera, arsenal of pens and everything else I carry. (Although, I ran out of wipes.)

As a teenager, I once had a bunch of spiral notebooks that I used as journals. I have no idea what happened to those journals. But I miss writing — and heheh, I kind of need to get back into the practice of writing, I can barely read my own handwriting anymore. I considered starting another anonymous blog, or a private blog, or using Google Docs as a journal — but its just not the same.

So yes. You may call me a douche bag. But I am hoping I’ll be a douche bag with a clearer train of thought.