Behind enemy lines
This afternoon, Chris Lee wanted to interview me for the MLK Presentations, which are presumably next Monday and Tuesday. He’s Asian, so he wanted to interview me, another Asian, about diversity. cf. Diveorsity
So he stops by the Blueprint office to pick up his camcorder – and I follow him in!
I was hoping that things had cooled down between the Blueprint staffers and me, but apparently not. After going unnoticed for a minute or so, Chris Schlechter turns around and starts pushing me out the door – I’m not so sure he was joking around. “This is the guy who rips on the Blueprint every week!” he exclaims. As his peers start noticing me, Chris Lee (the Asian) thankfully replies, “He’s with me.” I mean, can’t you see the resemblance? :^P
I understand that the Blueprint is very protective of their home turf; their cozy (read: disheveled) office naturally lends to close-knit community, anyhow. But that the Blueprint staffers continually dig up this old (read: three-year-old) bit of news… well, can’t they find something more relevant to worry about?
It saddens me that the Blueprint cannot help but to continually hold a grudge against someone who simply disagrees. Is that a crime: to provide constructive criticism? To speak one’s mind?
Why can’t the Blueprint accept that they’ve made even the tiniest, most trivial mistake in the past three years? I’m not even asking for a retraction; at this point, I just want them to stop bothering me about it. I even retracted some of my statements long ago, but that clearly isn’t enough for the Blueprint. They want my head for it. I’m sure there’s a sign hanging somewhere on their office wall: dead or alive.
Chris: once you realized that you couldn’t kill my blog by your absence, you must’ve decided to wage a negative PR game on me. Are you that vindictive? I just want to let you know: there are a great many people who don’t appreciate the Blueprint’s antics; I’m just the one brave enough to say it here.
(By the way, an amateur journalist should still learn to distinguish between the week and the month. For goodness sake, I don’t even write about the Blueprint every month anymore, much less criticize them.)
As I left, Frank Luther asked me why I don’t write for the Blueprint, instead of for my “Xanga.” I’ll tell you why: I don’t have a Xanga. I have a blog. Say it with me, Harrison: B-L-O-G.
But seriously: I don’t write about the Blueprint for the reasons they think I do. I’m not a journalist, nor do I ever intend to become one. As I have said time and time again, I am doing this out of frustration.
My first article about the Blueprint may have bordered on being a rant, but I really mean what I say, and I’ve backed up my claims over and over again. I want change.
If there’s one thing I can thank the Blueprint’s elephant-like memory for, it’s this: they’ve given me a veritable ton to write about. And I’ve learned a great deal about rhetoric as a result.
Maybe I will write for the Blueprint someday. But I’ll do so at the risk of sounding like an Andy Rooney, trying to rail against your superiors every chance you get.
Maybe that’s why I’m Public Enemy № 1.
3/ 1/2005 @ 3:54 PM
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