The Death of a Blog
Brothers and sisters, we are gathered here today to remember "Will Blog For Wine"...
I've decided this is going to be the last post to my blog. I'm not killing it for the normal reasons - I could probably find time to post and god knows I love prattling on and on about whatever random ass topics I think are important in life. In fact, I really love having a blog. I'll probably reincarnate it in some other form at some point down the road, but more focused on technology or wine or food or something less controversial. Something sanitized. Something that, when Googled, brings back "wow, that was an excellent side of pork I had with dinner last night, accompanied by 1.5 glasses of watered down white zinfandel. And then my wife drove home to our 2.5 kids and we lived happily ever after."
I'm killing it because of life. In today's world, the first thing a recruiter does is Google you. Try looking yourself up some time, it might scare you. Pull me up and you get link after link to a paper I wrote that's been translated into 4 languages. Sandwiched right in between an article from the WSJ and some foreign policy mag. That's cool. But, what would I do if somebody I don't know found this site? "Bomb Mecca into next year and make the Middle East a parking lot. Affirmative action discriminates against white people like me, who all of a sudden have to get better grades and pay their application fees because they were born white instead of black. I drink A LOT of wine." All great things for a potential recruiter to see. Even better, 20 years from now, maybe I'm running for Congress. "Mr. AK, can you comment on your statements as a 32 year old, indicating that fat people should be chained to treadmills and forced to run until they lose weight?"
It's hard to get motivated when everything you want to say can be, and will be, used against you in a court of public opinion. I can't mention the name of the school I go to, because it's a top 20 MBA school and a lot of people search for it. I can't talk about my former firm because it's ahhh in the news right now, to put it mildly. I can't I can't even swear without getting a polite letter from my favorite Bob Jones grad. If she wasn't the greatest chef known to man, I'd probably have some issues. It all boils down to a simple idea - the advent of blogging brings accountability to the masses. For those people that thrive off being the wild card, it's great; for those that are trying to get ahead in life, it's a liability. We live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech, but how free are you in the corporate world? Newslfash: you're not. You're free to conform, free to kiss somebody's ass, free to not make waves. Go ahead, sing amongst yourselves. "In the high school halls, in the shopping malls. Conform or be cast out..."
So, as quietly as I came into the blogosphere, I'm leaving it. The saddest part? I'm drinking a really crappy bottle of wine. Just kills me. 2003 Turley Duarte zin. I'm probably one of the biggest Turley cheerleaders on the planet and this thing just strikes me as mediocre. I've got $40 to spend on a bottle of wine like I need a hole in the head. Guess that's the way it goes, eh?
Thank you for reading. - AK
I've decided this is going to be the last post to my blog. I'm not killing it for the normal reasons - I could probably find time to post and god knows I love prattling on and on about whatever random ass topics I think are important in life. In fact, I really love having a blog. I'll probably reincarnate it in some other form at some point down the road, but more focused on technology or wine or food or something less controversial. Something sanitized. Something that, when Googled, brings back "wow, that was an excellent side of pork I had with dinner last night, accompanied by 1.5 glasses of watered down white zinfandel. And then my wife drove home to our 2.5 kids and we lived happily ever after."
I'm killing it because of life. In today's world, the first thing a recruiter does is Google you. Try looking yourself up some time, it might scare you. Pull me up and you get link after link to a paper I wrote that's been translated into 4 languages. Sandwiched right in between an article from the WSJ and some foreign policy mag. That's cool. But, what would I do if somebody I don't know found this site? "Bomb Mecca into next year and make the Middle East a parking lot. Affirmative action discriminates against white people like me, who all of a sudden have to get better grades and pay their application fees because they were born white instead of black. I drink A LOT of wine." All great things for a potential recruiter to see. Even better, 20 years from now, maybe I'm running for Congress. "Mr. AK, can you comment on your statements as a 32 year old, indicating that fat people should be chained to treadmills and forced to run until they lose weight?"
It's hard to get motivated when everything you want to say can be, and will be, used against you in a court of public opinion. I can't mention the name of the school I go to, because it's a top 20 MBA school and a lot of people search for it. I can't talk about my former firm because it's ahhh in the news right now, to put it mildly. I can't I can't even swear without getting a polite letter from my favorite Bob Jones grad. If she wasn't the greatest chef known to man, I'd probably have some issues. It all boils down to a simple idea - the advent of blogging brings accountability to the masses. For those people that thrive off being the wild card, it's great; for those that are trying to get ahead in life, it's a liability. We live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech, but how free are you in the corporate world? Newslfash: you're not. You're free to conform, free to kiss somebody's ass, free to not make waves. Go ahead, sing amongst yourselves. "In the high school halls, in the shopping malls. Conform or be cast out..."
So, as quietly as I came into the blogosphere, I'm leaving it. The saddest part? I'm drinking a really crappy bottle of wine. Just kills me. 2003 Turley Duarte zin. I'm probably one of the biggest Turley cheerleaders on the planet and this thing just strikes me as mediocre. I've got $40 to spend on a bottle of wine like I need a hole in the head. Guess that's the way it goes, eh?
Thank you for reading. - AK
posted by Drew | 6:10 PM
3 Comments:
Heh heh ... heh heh ... heh heh ... you said "Ass".
Well, Drew, I for one am sorry to see it be dead. (I have been watching it die ... painful, really).
Of course, you can send your rantings and ravings to your fans directly (... you have my email address, you know). We'll play nice.
And one more thing ...
Could you PLEASE get back here and TURN OFF THE RAIN??? We've had rain every single day since you got here on Dec. 18 ... actually, on the 18th it was snow and ice. But it's been rain ever since. It was sunny and dry before then for weeks! I hold you somehow responsible for the deluge.
So while you're knocking-off the blog, could you knock off the rain as well??? Enough is enough.
Love you!!
The BJ Grad with a Kitchen Full-o-Great Food!
How disappointing! You didn't even ask about my cough... That Turley cures it every time. Who would of thunk it?
Funny, Drew, but when I Google your name, the fourth thing that comes up is a post of mine on VinoCellar. With an association like that, no one is going to hire you anyway!
Like many things in life it's a choice of what's most important to you and how much personal freedom you want to sacrifice to conform. If someone isn't going to hire me because of a post online then it's probably not someone I want to work for anyway. But, I'm someone who is comfortable being a "nobody" and not having my name on the letterhead.
And, regarding the Turley...maybe your palate is finally maturing (G)?
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