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2002-01-11 | 12:13 p.m.

I have been trying for several days now to cobble together the clips I need to pitch a column to one of the newspapers. The urgency hasn't evaporated, but my confidence has. If I think about it for more than a minute, I know the source of my doubt. To wit: Some of what I write is good enough for print, but a lot of it is sheer piffle. Unsuitable for a general audience, boring as hell, take your pick. Not to mention that I don't know what I am talking about half the time. Newspaper readers are not as indulgent as Web readers. They know you are getting paid for your words and they expect them to hang together. Aside from a big disclaimer that warns I am "ONE OF THE GREAT KNOW-NOTHINGS" (this unlikely to sway potential employers), I'm not sure how to muddle through this contradiction.

But somehow, I must. I can't keep on doing nothing because I'm afraid that I will screw up another opportunity. I think I should anoint Hunter S. Thompson as my patron saint in this endeavor. He knows a lot more than I do about certain things, like politics, but he's also someone who doesn't fret overlong about things he's dashed off. Hope I'm not barking up the wrong.

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