Output: Opinion

I assure you, weekly heavy-handed social commentary wasn't actually part of the plan at first.

Today I sat down to hammer out another current events-inspired column because I had established that as my default plan whenever I had failed to observe something current about which to write a media review article. I realized, however, that I only have so many of those in me.

You know, another one of those "this is what happened, this is why that's bullshit, this is why my political views are superior" articles. At first, I was being cute -- treating a serious topic the same way one would an arts and entertainment- style review. I thought it was clever, at least.

The thing is, I can't do that anymore.

Oh, it was fun while it lasted, my weekly seditious screed-writing session, and my views have not changed, but I'm not comfortable with the level of repetition I foresee if this continues. This is why I wouldn't consider myself a political writer of any kind, nor would I pursue a career as such. It strikes me now just how effective a tool the labyrinthine mess of the modern political bureaucracy really is. It compartmentalizes our rage and concern, gives it to us in pieces, obscures the larger picture by over-analyzing every detail of one specific issue until the news cycle replaces it with something else. Whether purposeful conspiracy, happy coincidence, or some combination thereof, the power structure gives us our medicine and the media adds some sugar to help it go down a little easier. Writing my reactionary political columns, I allowed myself to be a small part of that.

I started this project because I wasn't writing. I caught myself killing time with hours of video games and really bad comics and it made me depressed. Also, I had recently quit smoking cigarettes and I needed something to do with my hands. The point is, it was always an exercise more than anything else. Now, however, I feel the urge to create rather than react. Output: Opinion successfully roused me from the doldrums and gave my vocabulary and fingers a much-needed workout. However, I've decided it's time to branch out. I haven't written so much as a short story in quite some time.

This is not the end for Output: Opinion, only the end of its rigid schedule. This is also not the end of publishing online for me, but a change of format and content. I want to thank my handful of regular readers, my friends who offer criticism and editorial skills.

All, what? Three of you...

See you next time.