A time away from the blog which has nothing to do with the number seven
November 2nd, 2008 at 07:51pm
And as such, is not a sabbatical, although I will admit that “Blog Sabbatical” would be a snappier title.
I have to wonder if my absence was a mistake, especially considering the detrimental effect that it had on the ACT. Clearly missing my sound judgement and influence, Canberrans went mad and doomed themselves to four years with four Green Party MLAs in the Legislative Assembly wielding a dangerous “balance of power” sword. Perhaps if I had spent more time prior to the ACT election blogging and podcasting about the dangers of letting the Greens have any power then we wouldn’t be in this situation.
A tad egotistical? Well maybe, but when you consider the effect that I had on the ACT election when I decided to wield my influence, you would have to consider the evidence compelling. For example, I wrote about Labor candidate Mike Hettinger breaking a Labor promise and a mere handful of hours later, the Labor Party powerbrokers froze his campaign funding. He also failed to win a seat, quite possibly on the back of my noted disappointment that “Mike has decided to try to become part of a Labor government that he has previously accused of using policies which are against “core Labor values”.”
More of my influence could be seen at work in the election count when my number one preference, Liberal candidate for Molongolo Jeremy Hanson, secured a seat in the Assembly. My second preference, Liberal Leader Zed Seselja, also secured a seat, although the power of my influence on that one is debatable.
None the less, I did fail in my duty to “warn, warn and warn again” the Canberra public about the dangers of a Greens dominated government, and before I explain where I have been for the last little while, I shall take this opportunity to humbly apologise for my lack of warning in the leadup to the election. The detrimental effect of my absence is quite clear, and I’m sorry. I’m starting to think that my previous idea of organising a fill-in blogger during future absences would be a very good idea.
Anyway, the question of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing has come up a few times during my absence, both in comments on this blog and in emails sent directly to me. There has been a fair bit on my plate recently. I have been back at work for a couple months or thereabouts, I’ve been volunteering at 1WAY FM since late August, primary as the panel operator for Open House with Sheridan Voysey and local weather presenter on Sunday nights, but also doing some production work, co-presenting/producing the ACT election coverage and filling in on the odd air shift. I’m also continuing my work with AIR News, albeit on a much reduced scale due to my personal time constraints…I may be about to increase my workload there if it fits in or around the rest of my schedule.
Ultimately, all of this has taken so much of my time and effort, and considering that I have delved in to all of this off the back off nearly burning myself out by working myself in to the ground, I have had to work out what the right balance of work and rest is again…enough so that I don’t go completely mad from not having enough to keep my active mind entertained, but not so much that I don’t have any time to unwind. Some of this involved a (not quite as) gradual (as it could have been) return to the rigours of work, although another important step was my conscious decision to return to the anti-depressants which, as much as the side-effects can be annoying, have been prescribed for a very good reason, and it’s quite clear to me that I struggle quite badly without them.
That, admittedly, is a very abbreviated version of the last few months, but it seems to sum it all up reasonably well.
For now, I’m back on the blog and will hopefully be back on Editorial Echoes shortly.
I have a written editorial on the US election which I’m working on at the moment, and I expect it to be online tomorrow. In the meantime, it’s great to be back, and I hope that you haven’t all missed me too much.
Samuel
Entry Filed under: Blog News,Canberra Stories,General News,Samuel News,Samuel's Editorials
5 Comments
1. legshagger | November 8th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Samuel Gordon Stewart, or is it Samuel Gordon and Stewart? I know I have inquired in to whether or not you are “real” in private emails, but I do have to ask “are you for real” regards this post.
Is this some brand of advanced subtle humourism, or like the Melbourne Cup tip post were you being undetecably ironic?
Do you really believe that anything you write in this blog would sway public opinion one iota, let alone swing an election result?
And why is John know as John Surname now? Why can’t he just stick to one witty non de plume instead of a dozen serious and boring ones?
These are serious questions.
I remain respectfully intrigued!
2. Samuel | November 9th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The great failing of text is its complete inability to convey a tone of voice, and therefore subtle sarcasm. I suppose that I could wrap all of my sarcastic comments in [sarcasm]sarcasm tags such as these[/sarcasm] but it defeats the purpose of subtle sarcasm, and looks stupid to boot.
Of course I don’t actually believe that the ACT election turned out the way it did simply because I didn’t rant and rave at the ACT public for weeks and weeks before the election, although I do believe that my contribution has some small effect.
As for the Melbourne Cup tip post, I was serious about my tips, but I was also serious about the fact that my tips are usually worth avoiding.
John B1_B5 and John Surname are two very different people from two very different parts of Australia. They are also from different generations.
Name Removed, in regards to the question of whether I am a real person, perhaps you could put your Google skills to work and find out where I work. I seem to recall that you complained in one of your many emails about how I wouldn’t reveal where I work…do some research and find out. If you’ve got a decent memory, you’ll probably be slightly confused by what you find out, but I’ll be happy to fill in the blanks for you once you work it out.3. legshagger | November 10th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Sorry I didn’t at first perceive your subtle humoursim, Samuel, Gordon and Stewart.
Incidentally, can you please refrain from using my name ########, as I work in commercial #####, and I am known to Kane #### as well as being a graduate of ######### College, where he studied.
I have not made public my theories, I would appreciate similar discretion!
4. Samuel | November 11th, 2008 at 7:54 am
No, you haven’t made your theories public at all…you’re just splashing them all over the comments pages of this blog.
I suppose that I can pretend that you haven’t been mentioning your theories here, and I’ll remove my reference to your first name (which I doubt is really your first name, but that’s a whole other debate).
Mention your theories again on here and the deal’s off. As I’ve said before, make your own website for your theories, and I will be happy to link to you.
5. newskitten | November 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 am
Dear Samuel,
I could not agree more with your deliberations. You are my muse. My north. my south. my east.my west. Let me love you. Will you love me too?