First-Person Pronouns...

Although being busy is certainly not a new experience, these next several days may just redefine what it actually means to be busy. In addition to the time and effort that goes into maintaining a household, the full-time class schedule needed to complete a final semester of undergraduate studies and the occasional freelance writing assignment - now there is a little matter of studying for the rapidly approaching Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). It is this last factor that has adversely impacted an already tight time schedule. It will, for the next twenty or so days, mean sacrificing some enjoyable but decidedly optional activities.

And blogging, at least on this blog, is the first to go. This, the 281st post to appear here, represents the beginning of a hiatus, however temporary, for new postings on this blog. Actually, there will be one more in the next day or two and therein lies a silver lining of sorts. Among the classes that contribute to this acute shortage of time is one that was not required per se, but is part of the semester’s coursework all the same. A much esteemed, long-time journalism professor at Sacramento State teaches Journalism 131 - and he is very fond of blogs as a teaching tool. Like his magazine writing class last semester, a new blog (actually several - one for each class member) will soon be created for his column writing class.

This particular professor comes from the school of thought where one learns best by doing. Of course, instruction will be given, but that element does not constitute the vast majority of time required for this class. Most of the time expended will be in the form of writing, the results of which will be published on a blog to be created in the very near future. Once established, it will be announced right here on this site - and then this site will become virtually dormant - for a while. It is therefore somewhat misleading to say that blogging will be eliminated in the interest of time. It will, however, have a new purpose. So what does this mean?

The new blog will be a series of closely defined columns within a particular theme that will be held throughout the semester. Other assignments might also require posting, but the primary purpose for the blog is to publish real columns in real time - using live ammunition, as it were. Although the theme or specialization of this new blog has not yet been absolutely defined, there is a very good chance it will be political in nature with perhaps some characteristic that will more closely define it’s scope within this broad category. One thing is certain, deadlines being what they are in class as in the real world, by this time tomorrow, it will be known.

Many of the previous 280 posts that have been published here could be defined as columns and some of those are political commentary. However, it has been so without any formal training and as such, certain rules and techniques have not been strictly adhered to. Some of these were known and ignored while others were (and some likely still are) not yet discovered. One such has been put into practice here. There is not one single first-person pronoun in any of the preceding 529 words. Although there will be a host of other restrictions that will be imposed on the new blog that have not been applied here, it is unlikely that the frequency of or the enjoyment derived from blogging will be affected in any significant way once the new blog gains prominence.