COVER -> RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT
NO PLACE LIKE HOME - I had a feeling that there was something going on with this "RDR" feature, ya'll, but I didn't get The Clue until this week. "Lo and Behold!" I said to myself when the new version of the RDR Archives went up. Suddenly the little Sylvania light bulb went off in my head!
First off, I could pick and choose which writers I wanted to focus on AND, Numero Two-o, I got a better sense of what was happenin' here than I had by trying to follow this feature of G21 chronologically. It suddenly made sense to me why many of ya'll was reading this here column about as much as you were reading the BEST FEATURE of this Web magazine., TABLOID HART.
Not to toot my own danged horn (as a politician would say before beginning to brag to high Heaven about himself) but I do think if you're looking for Common Sense, I'm your man.
NONETHELESS, like I said, I finally "got it" about this here RDR part of the magazine, which is why I'm writing this article today. "Lordy!" I says to myself, "We got folks from all over the planet spillin' they guts about just about every topic under the sun!" Unlike the rest of this here Internet rag, they are talking about their relationships and families, important issues that might not fit into other parts of our "regular" news features, and even some stuff that made me want to bust a gut.
Here's a couplah examples:
- I went cruising through the stuff by that guy from out in Michigan, Ed Cantarella. I had to say that he hit a nerve with his "You, Too, Could be A Winner," in April, about the danged state lotteries. Naw, I don't know anybody who's been hit by lightning.
And that "I Eat You" thang back in July was just danged scarey!
- I personally think Radio Raheem is the gunslinger of our bunch. That ole boy had it all in his "warning" to Wolf De Voon, in March, "Be Careful What You Wish For." I fell off my chair laughin'!!!
But the thang is, as I had the chance, now, to read the full collection of his RDR articles, I started to get a sense of who that brother is and where his head is at. I couldn't do that as easily under the old format.
- Some of the one-time contributors also set me to thinking. I'd like to see more from Anayat Durrani, for example, or James Landrith, Jr., who touched on stuff this magazine, for certain, should show more of.
- It's kindah an Open Secret here that our Fearless Leader is one hot writer. We all kindah dis' him when he leaves the opportunity open, but he produces more'n most of us, as any archive shows, and he does it consistently well.
Are we jealous? Hell yeah!
Would we try to match His Prolificness? Why bother? Like Raheem says, it's like trying to go down to the bottom of the ocean and start wrassling with the Submariner. Ain't gonnah happen.
I ain't sayin' he's as funny or popular as ME, of course. 'Cause I know he ain't.
I think he's too danged serious, most of the time. But what do you expect from your Boss?
That's why I figure there is no place like home. I came to G21 on a fluke. Wrote in a letter in response to one of the columns and found myself welcomed to step on in. I sure never expected that, Sanitation Engineers. I been here ever since!
Years went by before I knew it.
NOW HERE'S THE KICKER: Even though this is not a "personal narrative" Web site, looking at the way the RDR Archive was reorganized this week, I started to realize that --- pretty much in spite of myself --- I had learned personal information about most of my fellow columnists here by reading their articles.
Reading POWERSSOUND, I learned that Bob Powers, the music guy, had been a drummer in college, knew Rosemary Clooney and her brother, Nick, personally, from years back and I loved his description of her wedding!
When Felicity Ussher was still doing LONDON CALLING! I got to know what it was like to be a young woman growing up in the UK --- almost like it was by danged osmosis!
A lot my experience, ya'll, here at "home," has been like that. I've gotten to know people over time --- whether they are writing news stories or politics or commentary --- because the essence of their experience can be shared here as part of the process.
I figure now, that that is what our publisher means about reporting "from on the ground." Like that Raoul Tesla guy who wrote from the Philippines. Talk about your freaks!
This week's Poll: The Holiday Season.
RDR RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE DAY: This would be a MUCH KEWLER site if they lost that blue background that obscures the blue text links. But nobody's perfect. It's an homage to the late Steve Kangas, of "Liberalism Resurgent." Check it out!
