{"id":13356,"date":"2010-09-10T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T17:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=13356"},"modified":"2012-10-25T06:25:52","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T11:25:52","slug":"frequently-asked-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=13356","title":{"rendered":"Frequently Asked Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought I’d respond to some of the email I get most often here at Shot In The Dark<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: You come in for a lot of fairly scabrous attacks from a lot of leftybloggers. \u00a0How do you deal with that? <\/em><\/p>\n

A: My basic assumption has always been that the opinion of anyone who doesn’t revere me isn’t worthy of contempt.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Hah, Merg! \u00a0You are teh unethikel. \u00a0You poast derring the wurk day!?!<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Nope. \u00a0In the past five years, I can think of two times I’ve blogged from the office, and both were for\u00a0really <\/em>big news flashes – Heller<\/em>, and one other. \u00a0And they were both during breaks in the action at work,\u00a0to boot.<\/p>\n

I write, usually, from 5:30AM until about 7AM. \u00a0Sometimes, rarely, in the evening, although that is rare indeed. \u00a0Which isn’t to say I’m not thinking about what I”m going to post; when I actually do start writing, I usually have a posting pretty thoroughly mapped out in my mind, and can pretty much do data entry. \u00a0And I’m a very <\/em>fast typist.<\/p>\n

I am that good.<\/p>\n

It helps that\u00a0Wordpress – my blog editing tool – allows me to schedule posts for anytime I want them, so they can publish immediately, or at any time in the future that I want. \u00a0So I can run a bunch of posts in the early morning, and spot a few more to run at noon, and occasionally schedule something for much further out.<\/p>\n

In fact, if I got hit by a bus tomorrow, this blog would continue posting content for (checks schedule) right around two years. \u00a0 Although a lot of it wouldn’t make sense; in October of 2012, I have a piece about the North Dakota National Guard landing on Guadalcanal that, so far, says “NDNG Guad; Bloody Nose, M1, Jungle, town”. \u00a0 I could see it becoming a literary genre in its own right, really – but all in all, I’m hoping to be alive to flesh the notes out.<\/p>\n

Still – those pieces I do on music of the eighties<\/a>, and my World War II pieces<\/a>, and most of my “Twenty Years Ago Today<\/a>” stuff is written months – sometimes years \u00a0– in advance. \u00a0The current record? \u00a0 I have a piece about the thirtieth anniversary of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “Shoot Out The Lights<\/em>” scheduled for April of 2012; it’s been completely written for probably 18 months.<\/p>\n

I’m a little manic that way.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Whatever happened to “Twenty Years Ago Today” \u00a0Did you have much \u00a0of a life twenty years ago? <\/em><\/p>\n

A: No, I really didn’t.<\/p>\n

Well, that and some of the people who were in my life twenty years ago have said they don’t want to appear in my blog.<\/p>\n

But I can announce this; the series will be making a return in coming months. \u00a0Actually, it did return, sort of; I posted my first epi in 15 months<\/a> a few weeks ago. \u00a0But if you like the series, I have episodes spotted out for the next year or so.<\/p>\n

The crazy part? \u00a0I started the series five years ago this month. \u00a0Those five years didn’t go nearly as fast the first time.<\/p>\n

Q: Why so much writing about the gubernatorial race? \u00a0Do you work for the Emmer campaign?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: This campaign has given me lots of opportunity to do some of the things I haven’t had much time to do with this blog – actual reporting. \u00a0Digging into stories and analyzing them. \u00a0In this case, the “story” is the boundless, slimy perfidy of the DFL and Mark Dayton’s campaign. \u00a0Let’s just say it’s a target-rich environment.<\/p>\n

But no, I do not work for the Emmer campaign. \u00a0I keep my “Disclosures<\/a>” section pretty rigorously up to date. \u00a0Unlike the Minnesota Independent<\/em>, I am rigorously honest about this blog’s backstory.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Oh, bull. \u00a0You have so much inside info from the Emmer camp, you gotta be working for them.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Nope. \u00a0I have plenty of contacts in conservative and GOP circles – one of the benefits of doing, I dunno, a successful conservative blog and talk show <\/em>for all these years –\u00a0and those contacts translate into “sources”, when it comes time to report on things. \u00a0But no; I have no connection to the Emmer campaign that every other “journalist” in town doesn’t have on whatever “beat” they cover. \u00a0Absolutely none.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0You are such a shill. \u00a0You are an idiot. \u00a0You are stupid. No intelligent person can believe what you do.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Mom?<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Why don’t you write more about music? \u00a0It’s what you do best.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Why thanks. \u00a0But throughout the history of this blog, I’ve written about whatever crossed my mind, when it’s crossed it.<\/p>\n

That said, I have a solid two more years of “This Was The Year That Was<\/a>” posts, about eighties music, coming up. \u00a0The pace is dilatory, but I’m kinda jazzed about the actual articles.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0You are wasting my time. \u00a0You have no expert knowledge of Minnesota politics. <\/em><\/p>\n

A: You came to me, jagoff. \u00a0Not the other way around.<\/p>\n

Q: What was that Gubernatorial \u00a0prediction again?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Emmer 47, Dayton 44, Horner 8.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0How about the CD6 race?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Bachmann 52, Clark 42, Anderson 6.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0OK, smart guy; CD2?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Kline 62, Madore 38.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0You think you’re sooooooo smart.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: No. \u00a0I don’t. \u00a0Honestly, I feel like a moron most of the time.<\/p>\n

Part of it is that kids on the Great Plains generally grow up with the sense that they really aren’t <\/em>anything special; you’re not bad, but don’t go expecting to change the world, because you’re just not that big a deal. \u00a0There’s even a Norwegian word for it. \u00a0I forget the word – Fj\u00f8rel\u00f8ren, for all I know – “Janteloven<\/a><\/em>“, or “Jante’s Law”, which is a constant dynamic in small-town Scandinavian life –\u00a0but it translates to “knowing your place in the scheme of things”. \u00a0Not getting “uppity”, to translate it to American.<\/p>\n

Anyway – long story short, I usually feel like the dumbest person in any room I’m in.<\/p>\n

Unless I’m at “Drinking Liberally”. \u00a0Then I’m in the 99th percentile.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0You are teh heppocreet and you lie!<\/em><\/p>\n

A: \u00a0“Hypocrisy” is one of those concepts that sloppy usage has perverted out of all semblance of reality in recent years. \u00a0So please focus on this; on what issue do I demand that someone else make a moral decision from which I exempt myself? \u00a0That <\/em>would be hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

“Lying”, again, is another one. \u00a0It’s entirely possible – albeit unlikely – that I’ve made a mistake on some issue or another; bobbled a number, mis-read a quote, whatever. \u00a0An error made in good faith, like “Paul Wellstone was elected in 1988”, \u00a0is not a “lie”; “I bagged Marisa Tomei last night”, alas, is – or would be, were I not using it as a f’rinstance.<\/p>\n

Which brings up an interesting question; is a statement like \u00a0“9\/11 is an inside job” or “the Holocaust never happned” \u00a0or “Mark Dayton will be a fantastic governor” or “the moon landings were faked” a “lie”? \u00a0All are absurd – but people can say either one and honestly believe ’em.<\/p>\n

Q: Why are you so arrogant?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Please. \u00a0Like you’d <\/em>understand my <\/em>motivations. \u00a0Sheesh.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Where are Roosh and Bogus Doug?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Not writing at the moment. \u00a0They both have other things going on – and my deal with them from the very beginning was always “write as much as you want; once a day, once ayear, I don’t care”. \u00a0They took me seriously on it!<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0I like your World War II stuff. \u00a0Why don’t you write more?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Were there other major wars going on 70 years ago today?<\/p>\n

No, I’d love to write more of the non-political stuff. \u00a0After the election, I likely will focus a lot more on some of my ancillary interests.<\/p>\n

But this election is a hoot!<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Why do you bag on leftybloggers?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Because so many of them are just sloppy thinkers and crummy writers.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong – most of them are good human beings (there are notable exceptions); some of them are capable of a rational argument, and a few are even fairly bright. \u00a0But for whatever reason, the gene pool among the great mass of lefty bloggers is just really really shallow. \u00a0Like their reasoning.<\/p>\n

In fact, I’m pondering starting a big series after the election; “Logic for Leftybloggers”. \u00a0I’m thinking of going through the list of classic logical fallacies and applying them to the sorts of “template” premises you see leftybloggers falling back on all the time.<\/p>\n

Because I’m all about the education.<\/p>\n

We’ll see.<\/p>\n

Q: When are you going to update your blog’s design?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Good question. \u00a0It crosses my mind from time to time. \u00a0 But I’ve got seven and a half years invested in this look, and I kinda like it.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Couldn’t you go with a snazzier color scheme?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I don’t care about snazz. \u00a0I’m a usability guy. Black text on white background is the most readable combination; Verdana is a nice, readable font. \u00a0Lots of blue is relaxing and agreeable-looking. \u00a0“Friendly”, and also just plain easy to read in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Why don’t you go with a three-column layout? Everyone’s doing it!<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Never. \u00a0Never never never. \u00a0I hate three-column layouts (unless you need a left column for navigation, and I do not). \u00a0Hate hate hate. \u00a0I mean, if you like ’em, put ’em an your own blog, and God bless ya, but I hate hate hate hate hate three column layouts. \u00a0The content is king on a blog, especially a blog like mine that’s not part of any larger enterprise.<\/p>\n

The western Human eye starts reading on the left, and so I don’t want my audience to have to pick their way over a bunch of links and ads and unneeded navigation and crap to get to the actual content. \u00a0Furthermore, I want the left margin to the usable to provide “scanning cues” to users who are scrolling down the page looking for something interesting; clogging up that left margin with ads and lists and twitter feed widgets to try to find what they want.<\/p>\n

The left side of the page is the most valuable real estate on the page. \u00a0Putting a bunch of links and lists and crap on the left side is like putting the restrooms and service corridors at the front of your mall.<\/p>\n

Yuk.<\/p>\n

Q: How long are you going to do this blog?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Until it stops being fun. \u00a0We’re nowhere close yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I’d respond to some of the email I get most often here at Shot In The Dark. Q: You come in for a lot of fairly scabrous attacks from a lot of leftybloggers. \u00a0How do you deal with that? A: My basic assumption has always been that the opinion of anyone who doesn’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[222],"class_list":["post-13356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mitch","tag-faq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13356"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13358,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13356\/revisions\/13358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}