Big changes!

Folks, it's been a busy week around here.

I haven't posted as much on this here blog or kept up my Entrecard drops as much as I should because I've been extremely busy this week. In fact, I may slow down on blogging a bit because of the events of this week, but I'll get to that later.

First of all, I headed to the northeastern part of Arkansas on Wednesday as I was invited to be the keynote speaker cat at a meeting of the Jonesboro Young Professionals Network. As I've mentioned a time or two here, I'm a public relations guy in the real estate industry and was asked to come visit with the group about what's going on in the residential market.

I even got a plaque for my efforts (dig my reflection in that) and had a heck of a time. It was a bit of a sobering experience, however, as I'm pushing 40-years-old and there wasn't a person in that group past the ripe old age of 35. I do hope they got something out of my presentation.

So, there was a day of blogging missed there. I also missed out on Tuesday and most of Monday as I was finishing up a freelancing editing/writing job that I do about four times a year. And, speaking of freelancing, I got a hell of a gig this week that pays well and is a lot of fun -- writing real estate stories for The Daily Record in Little Rock.

I'm excited as can be about that gig because I've been asked to write three stories a week indefinitely. I view that arrangement as the best of both worlds, actually.

Why? I enjoy public relations as it does allow me some creativity and pays quite well. However, I also miss being a reporter and have for some time. Through the Daily Record deal, then, I get to do some honest-to-goodness reporting and still keep my full-time job in the public relations field. And I'll pick up some extra money for doing something that I absolutely love.

Not bad, huh?

Ah, but there's a point to all this. A couple, in fact. First of all, I've noticed that journalism is like anything else these days -- a rotten economy means that a lot of newspapers out there are struggling with finances. So, a good number of papers are reducing editorial staffs and are looking for skilled freelancers to pick up the slack.

For those of you bloggers out there who have thought about entering the great field of journalism, this is a great time to start checking into freelancing for local publications. Give it a shot if you're so inclined. For those of us who like to write, there are few things more satisfying then getting paid for following local news and reporting it.

Second, journalism is changing quite a bit, what with the easy availability of reliable information on the Internet at all. Regardless, there will always be a demand for news and people will be needed to report it. I truly doubt Americans will be content with simply relying on "official sources" for their news.

There is something to be said for people who legitimately attempt to report the facts of matter impartially and I do believe there will always be a market for journalists. How will the news be delivered five or ten years from now? Who knows? But you'd better believe journalism won't drop dead as a field in spite of some predictions about that happening.

Of course, I'll be doing my freelancing on my own time as my employer likely won't appreciate my writing a bunch of stories on their dime. With a full time job and kids, I am fairly busy and those free hours are few and far between. So far, I've filled up a lot of those hours with posting nonsense on this here blog. Now, I'll spend a lot of time filling up those hours with my freelancing gig.

Something will, obviously, have to give somewhere. In order to keep up with the freelancing stuff and do a good job of it, I may slow down on blogging a bit. In other words, I figure on updating things here every other day or so instead of daily.

Now, there's one more thing to mention. There's been a lot of talk about throwing caution to the wind and spending money like maniacs in order to help the economy recover.

To hell with that. I've done my part by picking up a new Toyota Sienna for my wife last month, buying a house a mere three years ago and purchasing a Toyota Matrix a few years ago. I'm keeping my mitts on that freelancing money by sticking it in a savings account in case things absolutely tank and I need a nest egg.

Now, of course, I might run out and pick up some new, snazzy saddle shoes from time to time, but I'm more than a bit suspicious of a government that believes that it -- and all of us -- can spend every dime we can get our hands own, borrow more cash and magically wind up with a strong economy. Isn't that the kind of thinking that got us in this mess in the first place?