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About 11 years ago, I had gone a decade without writing much of anything.
I had burned out on the newspaper business – it took a few years of selling ads for me to realize I needed to do something different. I had been writing less and less and then not at all.
Then March of 2015, a bombastic faux-billionaire creation of Mark Burnett declared he was going to run for President.
Thus began, on or about March 22, 2015 “A Brief Take on Today’s News.”
A day or two later, I changed the name to “A Short Take on Today’s News.” I have been publishing between 500 and 1000 words daily since, something like 3,300 days
I would comment on national news, things in Western New York I found interesting and quirky stuff I found worth sharing.
I also included a daily entry from LM Boyd as well as a collective noun for animals, for example a shrewdness of apes or a babble of politicians.
Soon my friends list exploded on Facebook. Healthy debate on many days, brought 300 to 500 comments as the MAGA supporters battled it out with those who believe in the Constitution.
I kept going, emboldened, addicted. My writer was unstuck. As we traveled, whether Maine, Newfoundland, Michigan or California I wrote about it. It continued to Ireland.
Some readers love the travelogue stuff. Others do not. Ditto music reviews, whether Grosh, Davey O, Tom Stahl, Cage the Elephant or My Morning Jacket.
The supporters of our 45th President first became impassioned by his rhetoric and defended the indefensible and then sulked away. Sometimes they would hide behind leaving only a laughing emoji. Other times, they would go to complaining about our open borders and illegals stealing jobs and social benefits from Americans.
Then covid happened. They scapegoated Dr. Fauci, told us about how vaccines were experimental medicine, gain of function reasearch and more.
I kept writing every day.
Coming out of the pandemic, I decided to sell my financial services practice and go to work for a bank. It didn’t work because banks are too corporate. I am not. Eventually, I found my way to the Niagara Gazette. Beth and I loved Niagara Falls so much we sold our house in Clarence and moved here. It was one of the best choices we have ever made.
Short Take kept going but when the Gazette gig ended (I got dumped so they could hire Mark Scheer back). I went back to being a financial services professional and started the Niagara Falls Express as a way of trying to fill my need to write and try and fill the gap the Gazette is leaving as it spirals toward death. At first, it kept getting flagged by spam filters because Falls Express contains the letter s-e-x in the middle.
Paywalls annoy me so I use the Patch Labs platform which allows donations without forcing readers to pony up.
If you choose to donate, $5 a month or one time, thank you. If you can’t afford it, or choose to spend your money elsewhere, thank you for reading.
And happy 10th Birthday to Short Take and its little brother, The Niagara Express.
