(no subject)
The Yellow Dart
Hrm, seems like Livejournal's gotten a little facelift since the last time I logged in. WYSIWYG and HTML? Color me impressed.
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Donald Trump is the physical manifestation of everything capitalistic, unmoral, and American. DTrump (we're tight like that, don't worry) will soon be releasing his own brand of vodka, even though he doesn't drink and his brother's an alcoholic, or so says an old edition of US Weekly that I found laying around.
Firstly, it's sad that the most entertaining thing I could find in US Weekly was Donald Trump. Secondly, what a badass. When asked to reconcile his teetoaling with his own brand of America's most popular liquor, he said, "If I don't, somebody else will," or something to that effect. His ability to separate his personal, public, and business lives are commendable and have made him a shitton of money. Take note, aspiring public figures. It's just bidness, baby.
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Moving on, after cutting my milk teeth on a relatively large stage, I've been thinking a lot about writing in and of itself, especially blogging/journalism. To see the article that spurred this line of thought, check here.
Essentially, I took a few main points from a high profile interview and gave my opinion on it every blogger has one, and the internet has given us marvelous opportunities to share it, even when nobody really gives a shit). In an effort to be quick and concise, I tried to hit the high points. The trick is to keep people's attention. I tried to balance the positive and the negative (I think this was my biggest issue). Unfortunately, the nuances of my opinion were subsequently lost. I feel like I have misrepresented myself and made myself look like an ass.
This wouldn't be a problem in most circumstances, except that Destructoid gets 3000+ visits per hour. It's hard to renig when 1000s of people have, presumably, read what you have to say. Those numbers are scary enough as it is. Furthermore, I'm not the only writer on staff. I can't just arbitrarily fix my shit after I realize, hours later, that I didn't do a good job.
Don't get me wrong, I stand by my original article. My opinions haven't changed, but feeling that I have done myself and any readers a disservice by not being able to effectively communicate them is disheartening. It's not exactly a bad piece; I think it could have been better. Hell, there are entire articles that I wish I had never written. Same goes for these silly Livejournal topics.
The thing to learn is to be tough-skinned. The internet is very quick to criticize, and some of it actually intelligent. On the other hand, news travels fast, and pretty soon, no one will care about what Georges Fournay had to say about the PS3, and even less about my opinion. So that's oddly comforting.
I just worry that maybe I'm not analytical enough, or that I don't know the industry enough to successfully write about it. And while I'm always improving (at least I think so), Destructoid is getting popular enough that my learning curve is being broadcast to a lot of people.
In response to all of this, I've decided to come back to my little journal, and chronicle and analyze the things I'm interested. Practice makes perfect, and all that.
On a slightly related, I can't decide if I should e-mail Sean Fischer, senior editor at AllRPG and thank him for the positive feedback and intelligent discussion. I know I sound like a little girl, but a little support from an objective source goes a long way. Being told you did a good job, even by someone who disagrees with you about Georges Fournay, feels really good. Except then I would look like a little bitch.
For the record, the PS3 launch in Europe looks like it will go smoothly. My only gripe is that Fournay was a little bombastic for my tastes, especially given the PR nightmare that has been Sony over the past couple of months.
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I'm proud to say that I opted for the HTML version of LJ. With Destructoid's switch to ElephantBlog, I haven't had much of a chance to actually use HTML. Not that I was ever any good at it.
Hrm, seems like Livejournal's gotten a little facelift since the last time I logged in. WYSIWYG and HTML? Color me impressed.
-----
Donald Trump is the physical manifestation of everything capitalistic, unmoral, and American. DTrump (we're tight like that, don't worry) will soon be releasing his own brand of vodka, even though he doesn't drink and his brother's an alcoholic, or so says an old edition of US Weekly that I found laying around.
Firstly, it's sad that the most entertaining thing I could find in US Weekly was Donald Trump. Secondly, what a badass. When asked to reconcile his teetoaling with his own brand of America's most popular liquor, he said, "If I don't, somebody else will," or something to that effect. His ability to separate his personal, public, and business lives are commendable and have made him a shitton of money. Take note, aspiring public figures. It's just bidness, baby.
-----
Moving on, after cutting my milk teeth on a relatively large stage, I've been thinking a lot about writing in and of itself, especially blogging/journalism. To see the article that spurred this line of thought, check here.
Essentially, I took a few main points from a high profile interview and gave my opinion on it every blogger has one, and the internet has given us marvelous opportunities to share it, even when nobody really gives a shit). In an effort to be quick and concise, I tried to hit the high points. The trick is to keep people's attention. I tried to balance the positive and the negative (I think this was my biggest issue). Unfortunately, the nuances of my opinion were subsequently lost. I feel like I have misrepresented myself and made myself look like an ass.
This wouldn't be a problem in most circumstances, except that Destructoid gets 3000+ visits per hour. It's hard to renig when 1000s of people have, presumably, read what you have to say. Those numbers are scary enough as it is. Furthermore, I'm not the only writer on staff. I can't just arbitrarily fix my shit after I realize, hours later, that I didn't do a good job.
Don't get me wrong, I stand by my original article. My opinions haven't changed, but feeling that I have done myself and any readers a disservice by not being able to effectively communicate them is disheartening. It's not exactly a bad piece; I think it could have been better. Hell, there are entire articles that I wish I had never written. Same goes for these silly Livejournal topics.
The thing to learn is to be tough-skinned. The internet is very quick to criticize, and some of it actually intelligent. On the other hand, news travels fast, and pretty soon, no one will care about what Georges Fournay had to say about the PS3, and even less about my opinion. So that's oddly comforting.
I just worry that maybe I'm not analytical enough, or that I don't know the industry enough to successfully write about it. And while I'm always improving (at least I think so), Destructoid is getting popular enough that my learning curve is being broadcast to a lot of people.
In response to all of this, I've decided to come back to my little journal, and chronicle and analyze the things I'm interested. Practice makes perfect, and all that.
On a slightly related, I can't decide if I should e-mail Sean Fischer, senior editor at AllRPG and thank him for the positive feedback and intelligent discussion. I know I sound like a little girl, but a little support from an objective source goes a long way. Being told you did a good job, even by someone who disagrees with you about Georges Fournay, feels really good. Except then I would look like a little bitch.
For the record, the PS3 launch in Europe looks like it will go smoothly. My only gripe is that Fournay was a little bombastic for my tastes, especially given the PR nightmare that has been Sony over the past couple of months.
------
I'm proud to say that I opted for the HTML version of LJ. With Destructoid's switch to ElephantBlog, I haven't had much of a chance to actually use HTML. Not that I was ever any good at it.