Attitude Adjustment

I’m trying to find my voice. It’s harder than it sounds.

This little corner of words has been percolating in my head for some time now, and I’m not any closer to discovering the right tone than when I started.

That disturbs me because I used to be cool. But that was during the Nixon years. OK, maybe my hip-ness extended into the Carter era, but not much longer.

I don’t listen to Lady GaGa or the Black-Eyed Peas, and don’t even get me started on the crap they call rap. I don’t watch The CW or VH1. I don’t text or Twitter.

I know that successful blogs take more than nouns and verbs and the occasional adjective. They require Attitude.

Wonder how Shakespeare’s blog would’ve read? Or Mark Twain’s? Or Coco Chanel’s?

The best blogs seem breezy, conversational, smart, edgy. Can I get there?
Hipsters who keep up with the times claim that writers use blogs like sales reps use free samples. You gotta show your wares.

Never mind that I’ve been showing my writing wares for over half a century. My old friend Paula recently reminded me of the stupid little stories I penned in the sixth grade with our weekly spelling words, “The Adventures of Emiline the Elephant.” Everybody else in the class, dutifully following the assignment, wrote sentences using the week’s words.

Me, I found this boring, so I made up Emiline and wove those words into an ongoing series. Our teacher, Miz Goforth, encouraged this literary effort by making me stand up in front of the class every week to read my deathless prose.

I was hooked on the written word forevermore.

I’d like to believe my style has matured since those heady days of 1959-60, but I still have the passion for writing that had its roots in the adventurous Emiline.

Right now I’m relearning “hip” and trying to find my new blogger-worthy Attitude. With any luck, you’ll stick around for the conversation.