Tuesday, November 1, 2011

New month, new look for Kosher Computing


Well, it's been a while since I freshened up my first entry into the blogosphere. I would dare say it's about time that I did something to make this site look a bit more inviting to those who are interested in what I have to say. As the more informed will tell you, the Kosher Computing blog you are reading was the first of several Internet avenues I am now using to teleport my writing and interests to others. I have long written for print media, mostly weekly or monthly newspapers, for decades. Beginning in the late 1990s, I leveraged my interest in the Internet with my computer skills and started working as a chat host for MSN. It allowed me to get to learn about IRC chat rooms and a lot of the ins and outs of dealing with the Internet. I became a member of several MSN Forums and later created some of the first of several MSN communities (later called groups) for special interests in music (Musiclovers and Edwin McCain Fans). I wrote hundereds of pieces, which were posted over these sites. Over the course of several years those groups were unceremoniously dropped by MSN and have since been moved over to a site on Multiply.com that I admit I rarely go to these days. All of the online articles and comments made over the course of six or seven years by members of the group and me were, for the most part, lost to cyberspace. But, change is a necessary component to life and one that makes for interesting new possibilities. The loss of the MSN Groups meant that I was able to write for other outlets. Kosher Computing was one of those that sated my initial hunger for a place to write on the Internet. In more recent years my writing has declined on this location as more avenues have opened up for me. I have been writing for Examiner.com since early 2010 as the Performing Arts Examiner and more recently took on the additional title of Drinks Examiner. I also have expanded my coverage of music to write for Arts America, a new online magazine as their opera, classical and jazz music reviewer. Critic is sometimes a harsh word for me to accept, but, yes, I am also a critic. I have become a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and am also registered with the International Society of Theatre Critics. All of which leads me to render an apology of sorts. I must admit my sorrow at not having enough time to be here more. There is only so much time in the day for me to devote to all of my writing and, these days, this blog has suffered because of it. I can only hope that the lack of quantity will be supplanted by an increase in quality of writing. But we shall see. In the musical "Sunset Boulevard" the lyrics of "With One Look" sung by Norma Desmond as she acknowledges her unseen crowd say something about which writers also feel. "To my people in the dark, still out there in the dark." I can never know just how many people my words will reach or touch. I only know that this is my way to connect to the outside world. Though I may not write as much here as I have before, believe me that this is my first choice for opinion rather than reporting or criticism. Most will note, however, that my opinion pieces oftentimes tend to be more balanced than others. I credit that to my attachment to journalistic style and fair play rather than an active act of vacillation on my part. Nevertheless, I hope all of my friends and family out there in the dark appreciate the sentiment and earnest feeling on my part.