50,000 Hits, and No, I'm Not Talking About My Junior Year in College

The 50,000 hit barrier has been broken by the Portland Freelancer and I'm grateful for everyone who made it happen. My own site meter had an ad saying, "Your traffic sucks", so I am realistic about how that ranks with other blogs out there. I look at it like this: Anytime I played music before 100 people, I considered it a big crowd. If 100 people are reading something I wrote that's impressive enough for me. There were plenty of times in the music business, where we would have loved a crowd this big.

I should acknowledge Jack Bogdanski who has helped dozens of bloggers keep going with an occasional link. I've also been linked by Blue Oregon, Fark, the Denver Post, and "Crooks and Liars for which I'm grateful. I also want to acknowledge my favorite commenters: Butch, Laurelhurstdad, Frank Dufay, Carla, Mam, and Tenskwatawa. Of course, I add a nod to the omnipresent "Anonymous". Long may you live.

One time I was in a band so experimental that people would approach the stage and ask, "Why? Why are you doing this?" They were so sincere that it was impossible to be irritated. It was actually quite funny, and the fact that I couldn't explain it, helped make their point.

So why? Why the Portland Freelancer? First and foremost, I want to be able to say that I spoke out against the Bush administration. I could be content with having over 500 jokes televised in over 70 countries, and I could be content with writing for over 140 radio stations. This stuff does bounce around, ending up in newspapers and on websites all over. However, I believe we're in such a jam, that it's not enough to speak out in a few ways. We have to speak out in as many ways as we possibly can, and this blog was made for that. That also explains the "Born to Slack" cable access show, which is 3 weeks from its 150th episode. Check it out at 10 p.m. Sunday night on Channel 22.

The Portland Freelancer has also been a way to write about what's happened to me personally, and that has had a calming effect. It's therapeutic to come forward and say things that really matter to you, and there is a list of items out ahead.

It's also mental exercise. A blog is a health club for the brain. At its best, it gives me a buzz. Nothing spectacular. Just a nice quiet endorphin buzz that lasts a couple of hours after I work on a post.

Finally, I set the goal of writing a book, but I'm a one-liner guy living in a 300-page world, and my coherence is...wait, what was I saying? So, my goal of writing a book has not been reached. In the final analysis, the Portland Freelancer is a way to avoid writing the book, even if it means writing more than a book's worth of words. Yup, I admit it. This is genuine, but it's also a fun diversion. I say that with the ultimate respect. Finding fun diversions from real goals, has always been one of my specialties.