243. Guest Blogging may not be for me.

As many of you know, either from me telling you here or finding out for yourselves by linking to Mark Nickolas' BluegrassReport.org, I've been Guest Blogging on his site for a few days now, although I've only entered three posts. One, an historical essay on Frankfort which some liked and at least one person didn't; the second a political essay inviting folks to email me about ideas for the Kentucky Democratic Party, and a few people have actually done so; and the third an announcement about a personal friend of fifteen years or so, Adam Edelen, receiving an appointment from the governor. The last one was more typical of the things Mark generally has on his blog, which for over two years has been the premier place to go to catch up on Kentucky politics, although that prime ranking seems to be changing since his removal from this state to the Big Sky Country to the west. I do not know Mark personally; we've never met - our only acquaintance being through his electronic posts and my electronic responses over those two years, sometimes in agreement, oftentimes not. But I have enjoyed the opportunity to be a Guest Blogger, expanding on his site my ability to reach many people, something I have not done here. When he first emailed me asking if I would be interested, my response was "I'd be honored." And I have been. It was suggested to me by someone after my first post was entered that I failed to advertise there, where there is a large readership, my blog over here where after nearly twelve months, we are closing in on 7,000 hits. Mark's blog has recorded well over 2,000,000 hits thus far. The failure to advertise was intentional.

Truthfully, in creating this blog, my blog, the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, my intention was never to reach the large numbers of political hacks (like myself) who daily visit BluegrassReport, or any of the other political sites in the state, especially (of late) that of Jacob Payne's PageOneKentucky or Ryan Alessi and other Herald-Leader's writers' PolWatchers, both of which are must-see blog-stops, at least for me. Mark, Jacob, Ryan, and others (apparently) have a large network of sources and attempt to stay on top of things as they happen, things such as my announcement yesterday for Adam. My intention over here is far more laid back, far less controversial, and hopefully comes across like one of those road-trips of which I am fond of writing, over the hills and dales of Kentucky and southern Indiana, a stream-of-consciousness report of whatever may be lurking in the nooks and crannies of my mind on any given day. I like to throw in the weather, a bit of sports, and more than a bit of religion, things that I can not do over at BGR, although Mark's invitation to post placed no restrictions on any subject matter.

And there are days where I have really have nothing at all to say and I try to do just that. On other days, there may be reasons I just do not wish to blog. Yesterday's entry here was indicative of one of those days, a day set aside on what would have been the birthday of a dear friend who has long since died, a friend I think of most everyday. But, in fulfilling the responsibilities as a Guest Author over there on BGR, I was compelled to make some entry on the events of the day, so printing the governor's notice of his appointment of Adam Edelen seemed appropriate. Adam is a name you should write down as he will be on the statewide political scene for some time to come. Another is Morgan McGarvey who I have mentioned here in the past. But, I digress.

Having said all this, it is not my intention to abandon my blog or even my writing style over here. I enjoy this - a lot. If people are reading what I've written, that is fine too. But what (I think) people come here to read is far different than what many of those same people seek over there. And wearing two different hats with two different purposes is difficult. So, my entries here will continue as always, while my entries there will not be in any forced writing style or quick up-to-the-minute scoops. They'll be, hopefully, vintage Ohio River, Left Bank, MP 606 stuff.