The above photo of Johnny Northside was not taken this morning after reading this feature article in The Line. No, this above photo was taken this past summer, after Johnny collected $50 off a winning political wager, plus an extra $10 for delayed payment and, well, because the losing bet was such a loser it just made sense to kick in some extra bucks to regain any shred of credibility after making such a god awful bet...
But the reaction captured above is pretty much the reaction many of us bloggers and blog readers are having this morning after seeing local journalist Anna Pratt's coverage of some of the northside blogs and the impact they are having on the revitalization efforts and conversational climate of the northside. (Notice I say *some*, there are several more northside blogs doing their own thing towards their cause that aren't mentioned in Anna's article)
The daily life of northside activists can be hectic and stressful and involves absorbing a more than fair share of blows. Learning of delays to neighborhood or city projects, finding out a notorious slumlord now owns the house a few doors down, taking in the blight of boarded and dilapidated buildings, swerving suddenly in a frustrated panic because a punk in all dark clothing is walking in the middle of the street at night and you almost clipped his hip with the bumper of your car. Political enemies filing another frivolous lawsuit in attempts to discourage and distract and dissolve your focus and efforts. Etc. Etc. Etc.
So when a little pat on the back encouragement comes our way, a little sign from the universe that all the hours spent doing and doing and doing AND THEN blogging about the doing just might in fact be creating change, well, it's a moment to share and savor.
Good job, NoMi Homies.
5 comments:
Good job guys, I know how much time goes in to what you do.
Congratulations John! Keep up the good work!
I like her even keeled coverage of a somewhat difficult topic to articulate.
Troll comment rejected. Drive your own traffic to your own crappy, no-accolades-having blog.
I should clarify, just for the sake of the public record, what the "political bet" was that Megan Goodmundson (NoMi Passenger) mentioned in this post.
The bet took place prior to the previous city council elections, and was as follows: somebody besides Don Samuels will win the election. Obviously, I took the other side of the bet: Don will win, like he always does, and like he should because he was the best candidate. For example, he doesn't push women from moving vehicles.
The wager in question was a steak dinner at Monte Carlo restaurant, the value of which was not to exceed $50.
Originally, the other bettor proposed the following wager: Lennie Chism will win.
However, as the bet was discussed, the other bettor figured his odds were better just saying, "Somebody besides Don Samuels." So that was the final bet.
The steak dinner never materialized, but finally I managed to get cash instead. And since the loser didn't have change, and it had taken, oh my word, approximately 8 months to pay the wager, I was told, in effect, "keep the change."
So I went out and bought tires at Rusty's Tires with that money, got two of them.
This bet...the fact it even happened...shows just how far off some individuals are in their ability to do political calculations: to predict winners, or know what issues will get political traction, or how to get somewhere politically.
In short, you have winners and then you have losers.
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