1.08.2008

What You’ll Find Here

First and foremost — fun.

Second, some news. And potentially, on rare occasions when the planets are perfectly aligned, a speck of insight. (Not a word commonly used in conjunction with my alleged writing)

Mainly what you’ll find at California’s Capitol is snippets about what is going on in the White Sepulcher:  Committee hearings, floor sessions, press conferences, super secret caucus stuff. The governor. The administration.

Like newspapering, this blogging deal is supposed to be a collaborative process. Comments are encouraged. The more people involved, the more fun.

Please correct mistakes, suggest stories, whisper tips, spout off at will.  More voices, more better.

If you click on the Features tab at the top of the page you’ll see there is more here than just news. 

The Angry Man is the name my cronies bestowed on me for the invective-laced screeds that I once wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle — until someone in authority actually perused one and muzzled me.

As I get better at this new medium, I’ll try and find some old columns and put them on this page so you can decide whether I’m mellowing or plagiarizing myself or getting ornerier. A new Angry Man every Wednesday.

Capitol Cliches is just what the name says. We use them, we hate them so why not create a list and wean ourselves off them. I offer some initial suggestions. There are plenty more.

Catching Up With… This has  been the most fun part of this new adventure since it involves sitting down for an hour or so and chatting with pals or interesting persons.  Who do you want to catch up with? There’ll be a new profile every Friday. This Friday its Jerry Waldie, majority leader under Jess Unruh and “Mad Butcher of the Swamps.”

Great Moments in Capitol History. There must be some, right? I’m polishing a few modest suggestions.

In Search of Health Insurance. Since we’re still basking in the warm half-life of the Year of Health Insurance we’ll follow the real life travails of two struggling small business ownersas they race against the clock to find affordable health coverage for themselves and their zany almost 16-year-old daughter.   

Overheard. I love quotes. Some are from pals around the Capitol, others from more famous folk. Send in your favorites.  

The Horror, The Horror – The final words of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness — is a Monday morning look at the week ahead — what’s important and to whom. And, again, with proper planetary alignment, possibly the reason why.

Use This Word and Win. Gotta have a contest. Each Monday there will be a new word. A weird word. A Quentin Koppish word. An arcane word. Prove it was used in committee testimony or a bill analysis and win a free lunch. Yes, regrettably with me. Its kind of a yin/yang thing.

You’ve Descended from Mt. Olympus to Bring Fire to Mortals. On the off chance something positive happens in the Capitol, there should be a place to showcase it. 

I’ve hired the best graphic artist in town to spruce up the main page and the various categories so things are gonna get prettier as we go along.

I’m committed to this for at least 2008. So let’s have some fun. xoxox

 

Filed under: Welcome



11 Comments »

  1. Congrats, Greg! I look forward to reading somethng “fun” and “funny” about Moby Dick (the original white sepulcher).

    Comment by Fred — 1.10.2008 @ 4:51 pm

  2. Glad you are back
    Looking forward to it
    You’ve been missed…..as has your screeds!

    Comment by Maggie Linden — 1.10.2008 @ 7:57 pm

  3. Greg–

    Comment by Matt Reilly — 1.10.2008 @ 8:02 pm

  4. so glad you’re doing this. I’m sure it’ll be my favorite reading of the week. Much luck.

    Reilly

    Comment by Matt Reilly — 1.10.2008 @ 8:04 pm

  5. Welcome back Greg! Just added you to my blogroll. Looking forward to your unfettered insights!

    h.

    Comment by Hank — 1.11.2008 @ 10:22 am

  6. Looking forward to reading along with my morning coffee (or afternoon Budweiser). Best wishes. Cheers!

    Comment by Stephenie Shah — 1.11.2008 @ 11:00 am

  7. Greg: You’re definitely one of my favorites! Glad to be able to follow the “scene” with your blog. Cheers, Ron.

    Comment by Ron — 1.11.2008 @ 7:54 pm

  8. Now I know what you have been doing all those late nights!! This looks great!!! The trophy spouse

    Comment by donna Lucas — 1.16.2008 @ 9:38 am

  9. Hi Greg, I am a blog-virgin…until now! So here is where I am supposed to say something? Hmmmmm…..I agree with all the earlier comments! (I’ll try harder next time.) xoxoxoxo

    Comment by Dottie — 1.17.2008 @ 4:56 pm

  10. Greg, digging the site. Very glad to have another reporter blogging about state politics.

    May I make one small suggestion? Set the main page of the site to be your blog, not the welcome message with the WordPress control panel. It is not very clear when you arrive as to the location to find the current content. People will find the welcome message if they want to find out more about you and the site.

    Comment by Julia Rosen — 1.17.2008 @ 9:52 pm

  11. Yeah, welcome back to the grind. I’m looking forward to this daily read now that the muzzle has been removed.

    Comment by Nicole Ratcliff — 1.23.2008 @ 4:28 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment