For the record

Just want to say that I think the selection of artisan and fine jewelry we have on offer here in exceptional. When I'm shopping for my mom, for instance, I'm more than willing to spring for a really nice piece from one of our local establishments. Well, I was when I had a real job, anyway.

And while I like Newburyport the way it is, I see that things are going to change. I think it's a shame, as I did when I lived in Boston and things changed. But the city has to go the way of the general trend and the general trend here now is upscale.

So I was thinking last night before I fell asleep about newspapers and blogs (the temptation to write, "bloggity, bloggity, blog" is too strong - sorry, Ari), promted by something a character said in the HBO series "Oz." I was watching it before I went to bed, on HBO on Demand.

"Journalists are supposed to be impartial," he said. And I thought, I've never really thought of myself as a journalist (even when I was one); I think of myself as an observer and chronicler of my observations. In other words, a simple writer. We are by nature observers and reporters.

Or, as author Lou Ureneck put it so well Sat. morning, "We always want to lay a narrative line over our life."

We write what we see and feel and then a lot of times feel bad about what we just wrote.

So having a blog suits me just fine, except for the low-paying aspect. The feeling bad comes with the job.