This is Not an Apology, It's an Explanation

This is not an apology, think of it more as an explanation.  I have had some people get upset with the language I choose to use and some of the topics I decide to discuss.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on things which means that I am too.  My goal when I first started doing the whole blog thing was not singular; I have/had several goals in this venture.  I started doing it because I wrote something to the local paper here in Kingsport that got a really good response and wanted to keep doing it.  The article I wrote for the paper was edited to death; whole paragraphs were taken out due to them being inappropriate for the local readership.  It was mainly a couple of jokes that I made in order to make my greater point.  I really enjoyed the experience of seeing my ideas in print for all to see, but I did not like the part where I was “censored”.  I feel like the impact of things can get lost when censorship is involved, so I had a friend suggest that I write a blog instead.

I’ve seen and heard about blogs forever but it never occurred to me to do it for some reason even though I love to write and create.  Basically I was too lazy to try to figure out how to do a blog but was pissed off when I found out how easy it was to set up and do.  My initial goal in creating it was to perhaps get noticed by someone of stature and importance from an online source or a magazine or anyone who enjoyed paying people to write for them.  I wanted someone like Jann Wenner to pop out of nowhere and say “Oh my God, you are the greatest thing since Hunter S. Thompson.  Please come write for the Rolling Stone immediately!!”  I wanted to finally be doing something that made me happy and writing had always made me happy.  I was one of the few people in high school or college that actually got excited when we were assigned a paper to do for class especially if it allowed for opinion or a little extra creativity.  Anyway, this is still to a point one of my goals.  I would still happily accept any writing/paying position offered to me, but I would still do what I do on my own site. 

Over the past 4 or 5 months I have listened to a ton of comedians on podcasts and other avenues and listened to them tell how they made it or at least got to where they are now.  I noticed that a majority of them spoke about writing a lot in order to get any ideas that they have out there and so that they don’t forget them.  Now, I don’t think I could necessarily be a stand-up comedian but I do think I could be a comic writer and/or a comic podcaster.  Which myself and my friend Murphy White are working on the podcast end of things.  We’ve done a couple of test runs and are trying to perfect the process.  The goal is to tie everything we do together, I write blogs, we do the podcast, we make some videos, he does some music, he does some art work, and we put it all in a centralized website and give everyone a chance to buy content and listen to free stuff as well.  Blah, blah, blah, you get the point, it’s our little business model/plan.  It takes time and coordination which we have not fully mastered but in 2012, we will be running strong. 

Would he have been as funny if someone
told him not to say dirty words?

So back to the explanation of it all; some people find certain things I do offensive and inappropriate for a person my age and with kids.  I’ve been asked the question, “Would you be okay if your children read some of the things you’ve written?”  And my answer is this; I hope to have enough control and parenting skill to keep my kids safe on the internet.  When they get old enough and if they are interested in what their old man is doing, then sure they can read it.  It’s like I said in a blog post a few weeks ago, everything needs to be taken in the context in which it is intended.  If my kids read half of what I wrote now, they would not understand half of it and would simply giggle at the times that daddy wrote naughty words.  They wouldn’t understand context.  The second part of my answer to that question is this; People, who are successful in this arena of writing, blogging, podcasting, or whatever, do not have to censor themselves.  They take chances with what they do and what they say.  What if George Carlin decided that he didn’t want to offend people all of those years ago and decided to be a clean comedian?  What if Todd Phillips (writer/director of The Hangover, Old School, Due Date, and others) decided that he wouldn’t use any curse words, discuss sex, or have any other lewd behavior in his movies?  Do you think those movies would’ve ever been made or if they had that they would’ve been as funny?  No!!!  Artists (and I’m not calling myself an artist, let’s just say I’m aspiring to be one) don’t worry about who they are going to offend or how it makes them look.  They want to entertain, break some barriers, and create something all their own.  This is ultimately what I want to do.  I want to make what I say be as entertaining and thought provoking as possible, if a person finds it offensive then maybe they shouldn’t read the offending article and move on to something else.  No one makes everyone happy all of the time.  Look at someone like Lady Gaga, I am not a fan but I can appreciate that she takes chances with what she does and look where it’s gotten her.  What if someone had made her feel like an idiot for ever wanting to dress herself in meat and sing techno?  She’d be just some other working stiff if she would’ve listened to it. 

Would this be funny if they said
"gosh" and "gee" and "darn it"?

My point is that I’m trying to do my thing here, I don’t know where it will ultimately take me but I hope to go far with it.  I hope to be one of the few people from our area who makes a name for himself.  I don’t want to make anything too taboo to talk about.  I want as many people on board as possible but I know I can’t win everyone over so that’s why this is not an apology but simply my explanation as to why I’ll continue doing what I’ve done, do more of it, and never feel bad for what I have said.  Love you people.