I'll settle for the elite.

I made my living. As a journalist. Writing for newspapers. Dailies. Weeklies. The gamut.  Fortunately, I’ve lived long enough to retire. So that I can write more than ever. But not for newspapers. Instead, here in my blog. Finally, I have freedom. To write the way I please. No editor telling me how or what to write. With rare exception, I don’t like newspapers any more. Don’t like what they’ve become. Mostly, whatever it is that readers tell them to be. Newspapers started to take polls of their readers.  Asked, 'What do you want?  What will you buy?’ And mostly, readers asked for dumb-downed news. Simple stuff. In capsule form. Easily read. And entertaining.  Designed for short attention spans. The equivalent of the 30-second sound bite.  Yes, I know that’s what you are getting in my blog, too.  Capsules. But I’m trying to make them thoughtful capsules.  Mostly, in short, abbreviated sentences.  If I were writing my own daily newspaper column. This would be it. Broede’s Broodings. I’m musing. About life. And personal things. In certain ways, I don’t give a damn about the reader. Though that’s not totally true. I’m not begging for readers. But I welcome them. Even those that don’t like what I write. Don’t like my style. Or what I have to say. But keep coming back. There’s a few of ‘em. They’re interesting characters. Deserving of psychoanalysis. That’s how this blog got started. It attracted people I pissed off. On the Alzheimer’s message boards. Most of ‘em are gone now. Found better ways to spend their time. That’s all right. Doesn’t hurt my feelings. But I also have followers. Some 29 have signed up. They seem to like my approach. My blog gets about 50 or 60 hits a day. That’s a very modest sum. But I’m not out to reach the masses. I’ll settle for the very few. The elite.  –Jim Broede