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While reporting on the faith of American soldiers, I just overheard Peter Jennings say the following:

"The image of a man (praying) on his knees with a weapon on his shoulder is incongruous."

Is it, and why?

 

(Tips #1-3, Tip #4)

Someone once said, "every individual is born an original, but dies a copycat".

Oh that this would no longer be true. I know the "be yourself" message sounds trite. In fact, it is. Unfortunately, no one believes it anymore. This can be cross-applied to blogging. You would be surprised by how many people try to write like, sound like, and be like every other human being on the planet. Do you ever visit a blog and feel like you’ve been there before? It’s probably because there are 15 others just like it.

As blogging becomes more mainstream and certain bloggers gain more notoriety, there is an inevitable desire to want to duplicate whatever the top blogger of the moment is doing in order to gain their success. This is a huge mistake in blogging.

If I read one more blog titled "_____pundit" or with the tagline: "The musings of..." I might vomit. For love's sake, at least be original.

Abandon the Idea of "Reporting" The News
The advancement of the "blogosphere" beckons that you be YOU. Otherwise, it becomes this echo-chamber of lemmings who crack the same jokes, use the same memes, and report on the same stories.

Newsflash: I can get the news regurgitated to me on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, NBCABCCBS and LMPNOPQ. Why in the world would I want to spend my precious time reading the same dry material on a poorly designed weblog? What makes a blog interesting is when I can read about the news filtered through another person's world.

Don't report. Opine! And don't just list off other peoples' opinions. I want YOURS. If nothing else, when you come to Nykola.com you will read about the world through the eyes of a wacky (and somewhat rebellious) black chick in Seattle. Where else can you get that but the world wide web?

Give me a reason to come back again. It's troublesome to think that in all the vast array of individuals on the planet (none of whom share matching fingerprints, by the way), people feel the need to be copycats. A good percentage of the blogosphere needs some personality. Like the dad said in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", "they are dry like a piece of toast". Get some flava and add some hotsauce.

Unique vs. Obnoxious
In being unique in your approach to blogging, it is possible to go too far. I can't stand reading raunchy writing. It’s a turn off. I think Chris Rock is a brilliant comedian, but I think he'd be 10 times more funny if he just cleaned up his language.

Remember that one kid in class who always had to be the center of attention? Right. Don't be them. And if you answered, "no", you probably were that individual. In which case, you need to try extra hard not to be completely obnoxious.

"Being yourself" simply means being comfortable enough in who you are that the things that are special about you shine through in your writing and your approach to blogging. Just "be".

Stop Trying to Be Accepted
This concept is easier said than done as another element to blogging is the idea of acceptance. As much as we'd like to deny it, we all have egos and we protect them at all costs. Having your own website is incredibly narcissistic. Don't worry if people don't comment and stop checking your stats like you have OCD. Throw away the fear of what other people may think. I've gone months without checking my web stats. Really folks. It's not that big of a deal.

Don't disregard an opinion or an idea you have just because you think it might rub people the wrong way or it wouldn't be funny.

A brief personal example of this is my "monthly fashion critiques" feature. As a matter of habit, I have always been prone to wanting to help others not make horrible fashion mistakes. I took that passion to my blog and started the "Caught in a Fashion Faux Pas" series where I snapped pictures of walking victims, published them on my site minus the faces and talked about what went wrong with the outfit. It's never done in a mean spirited way, but there are a few people who have the reaction I feared many would have and they accuse me of being heartless or "un-Christian".

Whatever*

The reality is talking about issues of fashion is very much a part of who I am so it flows very naturally. I had to be secure in knowing that my motives were pure and all in fun. Incidentally, I get email after email from people who say the fashion posts are among some of their favorites. Imagine that!

Flow
Lastly, the fundamental reason why people must allow their own personalities to shine through their blog is because perpetrating a fraud is tiresome. Being yourself is both natural and pleasurable. After all, it's what you were created to do. It takes the least amount of work, and it reaps the best rewards. The more you stick to what you know, the more popular your blog will become. Last I checked, the only thing I knew how to do was be myself. Try it sometime. It works!

* (Relative definition of "Whatever": don't get mad at me because your mother wears combat boots)

(To Be Continued...)

 

Much like those who opposed Bush's decision to invade Iraq, I too have little to say about Sunday's election. There's a reason the Seattle P-I asked me not to write about the war on Iraq. Discussing foreign policy and international affairs gives me a headache. Plus, I think we tend to overcomplicate the issues. But I will say this: Americans suffer from selective amnesia.

You see, we forget.

As Americans, our opinion of Iraq's new democracy should really be taken with a grain of salt because we've been a "free country" for so long that we forgot about the blood that was spilled on our behalf. The majority of us all haven't even the faintest idea of what freedom from tyranny feels like.

Most Bush opposition was silent on Iraq's election. The reaction from those who've spoken out has been mixed. American Democrats who've vehemently opposed the war are now heralding Iraq's first free election in 50 years as a tremendous victory. Internationally, even French President Jacques Chirac, a relentless opposer of the war called the election an "important stage in the political reconstruction of Iraq."

With a 70 percent of the electorate turning out to participate, it certainly is clear that the people are hungry to let their voices be heard. Other Democrats are foregoing celebration to call Bush to establish an exit plan.

Meanwhile, much of the media has sought fit to focus on every bomb threat, murder, and plane crash in order to paint a nonsensical picture of Iraq's election. How soon we forget that America's voyage to freedom has been similarly bloody.

Perhaps someone can explain to me the utopian ideal of freedom. There will never be a time where the wicked and the righteous come together and sing Kuumbaya in hopes of "working it all out" by candlelight. Change is violent, attaining peace is violent, and gaining freedom is violent. There is simply no way around this.

I have great faith that many Americans will continue to pass judgment from the comfort of their free society, attempting to identify with the plight of the Iraqi people. People will continue to make this about "Bush", but it's bigger than that. While there is room for opportunity, there's no denying that the voter turnout is indicative of something. It certainly was enough to shut up most opposers of the war.

The day following the election, Dr. Iyad Allawi, interim Prime Minister of Iraq had the following to say:

“I will begin a new national dialogue to ensure all Iraqis have a voice in the new government. The whole world is watching us. As we worked together yesterday to finish dictatorship, let us work together towards a bright future — Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims and Christians, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.”

We shall see. We shall see.

Update: Michelle Malkin lists the "Top 10 Post-Iraqi Election Sourpusses".

 

To the extent I've allowed it, I have for some time had a love/hate relationship with my television. Don't laugh. I happen to be one of those people who names inanimate objects--cars, hats, lotion, shoes, you name it. Well, actually, I name it, but you get the gist. It wasn't until recently that I genuinely had an appreciation for the phrase, "kill your television".

I've never been a huge television watcher. From as early as I can remember, the only shows that truly captivated my attention were "The Cosby Show" (don't ever say anything bad about it or I will smite you and your seed), and "All In The Family". I am hard-pressed to think of any other television program that I've ever watched with such diligence.

My parents were the type who turned off basic cable when we got bad grades. Even worse was that on most school nights, we weren't even allowed to watch TV. We did anyway. Every. Single. Night.

When my dad came home from work, we'd quickly turn it off, and he'd put his cheek on the TV to feel for warmth. We caught on to this tactic very quickly and soon after we illegally watched, we started rubbing ice packs on the television to "cool it off". Don't hate. It was brilliant at the time. Needless to say, we weren't exactly the brightest crayons in the box.

Throughout my childhood, the Telly and I had a cordial relationship at best. It respected me; I respected it. We were...chummy.

My battle with Sir Television didn't start until my freshman year in college. Somehow our dorm managed to be the recipient of hotwired free cable. God forgive me, but I indulged with the rest of them. I mean, who could turn down free cable? It was then I first realized the television is the enemy of productivity. It fought me on my homework. It fought me on my sleep. It fought me on everything. I quickly learned that whatever you are trying to accomplish will be accomplished much slower in the presence of a wretched television.

As far as content is concerned, my general philosophy that whatever we take in will eventually come out of us kept me away from a lot of the garbage on the air. It's never been about content for me. It's always been about time.

Today my battle is similar but more complicated. Because I consider myself a culture critic, I'm one of those people who gets ideas from the television. Take MTV for example. Yes; I find a good portion of their programming absolutely despicable, but I also recognize that it is in part, representative of my generation. As a writer especially, I can't even begin to engage others in dialogue about things I've never seen. At the least, it's good fodder.

Then a few months ago, something really bad happened. TiVo. Imagine the possibilities! The ability to record every episode of "Newlyweds" from now until 2018 is just plain dangerous. There is a special place in a very unhappy location for the creator of TiVo.

I'll admit that while I enjoy my television a little too often since venturing into the world of unencumbered playback, I hate it just as much. From one moment to the next, I can go from completely incensed to completely giddy and all at the fault of my television. At times I rely on the anger my television brings me in order to push out some quality criticisms (read: rants). This isn't to say that television has redeeming qualities because it doesn't. Next to beating the air, TV is probably the biggest waste of time on the planet. Yet, one day I want to be on one. Go figure.

Some may recall late last year when I caught this revelation early on and wrote an Open letter to "American Idol". Well, the reality has descended upon me once again that I have to turn off my television. Not permanently, but certainly until I can get some quality writing done. It pains me to admit this because I was looking forward to ranting about Katie Couric, BET, and the sick, demented, and psychotic cast of MTV's "The Real World".

There is time for that in a month or so, but right now, I must write and catch up on reading and I fear the television has a personal vendetta to see fit that productivity doesn't happen. On more than one occasion, a few individuals have told me that I should pursue writing as a career. Call me crazy, but I actually believe them. I need to see to it that this occurs sooner than later, so when the television starts paying my bills, then maybe I'll reconsider. For now, however, the Telly's on time-out.