Well, now. THAT was interesting.

Just got off the phone with a nice young reporter for the Tuscaloosa News named Stephanie Hoops, who is doing a story on...blogs. Looking for the local Alabama angle, she first contacted Dr. Weevil, who, though thoroughly familiar with Bibb County, now resides in Clam City, Maine. The good doctor graciously redirected Ms. Hoops to Mac Thomason and me, and I got an e-mail today asking for some input. Being stupid, I said okay.

I really would have rather done this as an exchange of e-mails, so I could eliminate most of the "uhhhh, well, uhhhhm, ah I dunno" aspects, but Ms. Hoops requested actual aural contact, so I phoned her up just now. (These may not be in the proper order, as I am typing from memory, not having the foresight to tape record my conversation. So the quote marks should be considered as paraphrasing, not direct quotes.)

"Hi, this is Terry Oglesby." Brief pause, then recognition, some rustling of papers and a thanks for calling back and a brief synopsis of the piece which was going to deal with...blogs.

First question "What is the name of your blog again?"
"Possumblog."
"Oh, yeah!"

"How did you chose the name of your blog?"
Now starts the horrifying series of "ums" and "ahs," whistles, clicks and grunts which makes a moment on the phone with me like listening to a recording of Shamu: "Well, ah, I don't....I mean it doesn't really mean...it's just a stupid name that doesn't...ummm...no real reason...it's just sort of a name that's...Ah, I don't know." Whew.

"Why did you start a blog?"
Tens of visitors ask the same question daily when reading Possumblog. I told her that I like to write, and read, and that it was fun, and I'm a moron, and that I didn't really know. I also mentioned that it was easy. Because I'm a goob, that's important. I worked in a reference to James Lileks. "Who?" James Lileks--L-I-L-E-K-S at lileks.com. Gave her a brief rundown of Mr. Lileks, the Bleat, the issue when he listed a few blogs, my following of those links and finding a wondrous world of people who could spell and had read something other than a comic book, and how the events of September the 11th had caused a lot of folks to find an outlet for their thoughts. I mentioned that I was the webmaster for our reenacting group, which gave me a bit of an outlet for being creative, and the small short stories I had posted on my GeoCities site back before December, neither of which allowed a whole lot of spontaneity, although they are still fun to mess with. Then something happens...HERE...and thus was birthed Possumblog.

The next question caught me off guard too, something to the effect of "would you tell people to start a blog," which I answered by incoherently mumbling. Finally, we got it to the point that I wouldn't say to just anyone, 'hey go blog yourself,' simply because if you aren't interested in writing or having people be critical of you, blogging is not going to be very much fun. I have reached the point where it doesn't really matter to me what people think, which explains a lot of the content herein.

"What is your blog about?"
Aww, GEEZ! I JUST DON'T KNOW! It's about me being stupid and hitting myself with blunt objects and shaking my fist at imaginary beasts--which is more or less what I told her. I have worked very, VERY hard to make Possumblog as hard to categorize as possible, and reducing such stupefying genius to mere words negates the artistry of the whole shebang. So, more grunts and "well, it's really hard to say what it's about."

"How many people visit your site?"
"Two. Me, and some blind guy." That got a chuckle. Then I explained that I was dead serious, and I didn't appreciate her mocking me with her laughter. Well, no, I didn't say that either. I explained that I don't have a very big readership, because I don't spend a lot of time trying to get people to come visit ::coughBrendanOneillcough:: and that I might have a hundred one day and forty the next. I also explained that many of my cherished readers mistakenly find Possumblog while searching for such things as monkeys, due to the way Google returns search results, which is to scan all the stupid stuff I write, including the word "Monkeys." I didn't tell her that many also come here for monkey p0rn. Which I don't have.

"How much time do you spend during a week or a day updating your blog, and do you do this from work or home?"
Oh crap. Oh CRAP. "Uh, well, uh, I'm not supposed to do this from work. And it only takes about two seconds. Honest." Two seconds to press Post and Publish--an hour to compose an ode to Mr. Van Owner, days spent reading the blogroll, months playing Yahoo! News, Google News, al.com, Reuters, et al. like some sort of Vegas slot machine--yep, just a few minutes out of the day. Really.

"What do you do for a living?" Architect. "Where do you live?" Birmingham.

The actual interview took a good while, simply because of my own inarticulate babbling, and then she asked if I had any questions. I asked when her piece was going to be published, and she said maybe this weekend, but no promises. Then I asked her the big question..."So, since you're writing a story about blogs, have you got one?" Nervous laughter. "Well, I tried to do one on Blogspot, but I put one post on there and I thought it was so bad." Great gravy Marie! "Well, what's the address anyway--I want to read it!" "I deleted it." WHY? "It's just that I'm used to having an editor and...well, I just didn't like having it there for everybody to read." BUT YOU WRITE FOR A LIVING! I still didn't believe her, and I noted that when you write in your diary at home, you don't have an editor..."I know, but a blog is public." "Just like a letter-to-the-editor is public!" "But aren't you worried about getting sued?" "Only if I sue myself for saying I'm an idiot." I explained that I make a point of NOT writing about easily identifiable private individuals in such a way that it could be considered libelous, but I figured commenting on news stories of public figures was fair game. As was my own commentary on my lack of brain capacity.

Sometime in there I can tell she has pulled up the site--"I see you're for constitutional reform--that's good,...ahh, wacko Jacko..." "Are you reading the old GeoCities blog?" "It says the 25th...wait...January!" I finally got her over to the new site and she started reading that. "How did find all of these Alabama bloggers?" Basically, it was accidental. I found Mac first, and it just sorta growed. I explained that not all of the Axis of Weevil members lived in Alabama, and gave her a rundown of their locations.

Finally, she got tired of all my meanderings and pointlessness and it was time to put up our blocks and go home. She thanked me again and asked if she could call back if she needed more information. "You bet."

So now, Stephanie--if you're reading this, you now get to do what we here in the blogosphere call an "angry rebuttal," in which you e-mail me with what I really said, which I will post, and try unsuccessfully to deny, or spin to my advantage.

It really was fun to speak with you, and I hope the story works out well for you.

And just in case--This blog is completely fictional. Any similarities to persons living or dead, actions, and/or events, is purely coincidental. Or not.

ANGRY REBUTTAL UPDATE: Ms. Hoops gets out the e-mail machine and sends the following:

Ah! I've just looked into the mirror! My co-worker, Katherine Lee is laughing at me. "Now you know what it's like to be reported on," she says.

Wonder if that makes me a........ Nah.

In any event, I thanked her for writing back and promised to make any necessary clarifications, and pestered her again to restart her blog--this time dangling the coveted Axis of Weevil Membership Card in front of her. No word back from her yet, but how could she refuse? (She probably doesn't know that if you show the AoW Membership Card at Woods and Water there in Tuscaloosa, they'll give you a free pack of crickets.)

Further updates as they are warranted. We now return you to your regularly scheduled pogromming.
posted by Terry at 3:16:00 PM