Since this blog was launched in January 2008, I have attemped to do two columns a week, generally one for national readers and another focused on Phoenix for the thousands of readers I left behind at the Arizona Republic. For now, I can't keep up that pace. Too many other obligations are slamming me: My Seattle Times Sunday columns and daily blog; appearing on radio, including KUOW, the local NPR affiliate; speaking engagements; my journalism posts on the blog of the Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at ASU, and my novels.
I've always prided myself on being an iron man, a writer like my character in Deadline Man, who never freezes. But for now at least, I am going to have to generally cut Rogue back to one column per week. I hate this, and will hate the toll it will take in the site's steadily rising traffic. But it must be done. Rogue Columnist offers readers many features: The Front Page with new news you might not find in your daily newspaper or on television; the City Desk which aggregates news on urban issues; Arizona's Continuing Crisis; the Best of the Front Page archive, and the Climate Change/Energy page. All these are to be found to your right and are updated throughout the week. In addition, there are five years worth of columns in the archives, especially the Phoenix 101 history series.
Even at one a week, I hope you'll continue to click on Rogue. And keep spreading the word.
[UPDATE] I like the idea of an open thread. So let's try that. I'll set up the open thread with a few links to get the conversation started. Also, guest Rogue posts are always welcome if they require little editing on my part and fit into the mission of the blog.
JON; I look forward to all your words.
keep pumping the ink.
Posted by: cal Lash | April 20, 2013 at 03:01 PM
We've got your back, Deadline Man. Quality over quantity.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | April 20, 2013 at 03:30 PM
Maybe you could pull the old Atrios technique, and sprinkle in occasional "Open Thread" posts. It might help keep the conversation going...
I really don't know how you've managed so far, really - your Deadline Man comment helps to explain it, I suppose.
Posted by: Petro | April 20, 2013 at 04:21 PM
"Maybe you could pull the old Atrios technique..."
Then, there's the old Atoz technique (creating replicas of himself as work assistants).
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Atoz
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | April 20, 2013 at 04:37 PM
Jon, I devour your writing, it is terrific, I'll take it when I can get it - no worries and thank you for your commitment and dedication!
Posted by: Lesley | April 21, 2013 at 08:07 AM
Consider the thread opened:
It is very surreal to drive through the extreme south east valley and see mile after mile of deserted subdivisions while across the street new housing subdivisions are in full scale new construction.
Some of the deserted subdivisions still have heavy equipment sitting as if they were left there in mid-job.
We're living in a very strange economy, my friends.
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I let my good friend Sen. Flake know that he works for me and not the NRA. Let's see how that works out.
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Even though I've learned the words, chimera, cohort and meme on this board, I still can't get myself to use them in a sentence. Where I grew up, if you used those words, you better be a fast runner.
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For those of you who are local and who have chosen to pass up on the opportunity to have coffee with Cal, you will kick yourselves in the future.
It's fine to lurk on the internet, but in the final analysis, you're human. Get out there and make contact with your species. Something about cal and eclectic dog and petro and soleri makes the coffee taste that much better.
Posted by: Ruben A. Perez | April 21, 2013 at 05:02 PM
Ruben: I'm with you on the $100 words, having been beaten up by my bosses who told me to "write so normal folks understand it". Many of them were big deal executives who didn't have the time or the temperament for flowing prose.
Posted by: morecleanair | April 21, 2013 at 06:02 PM
There's always a cohort of anti-intellectuals who tout this meme, but the truth is that the man of simple "common sense" is a chimera.
Posted by: Petro | April 21, 2013 at 10:00 PM