Are You An Elite Blogger? A Simple Test

This isn't a spoof, or a joke - it's a straight-forward test. All you need do is read the two relatively brief and well-written essays below ... and I genuinely believe you'll know whether you're an elite blogger, or not.

The American Digest:

ROGER SIMON is looking hatted, happy and haggard as we stand on the edge of a crowd that is, in its variations, the most unlikely looking group of people that the revoltingly trendy W Hotel in midtown Manhattan has ever hosted. Downstairs in the lobby with the pile-driving rap soundtrack and $12 drinks, the Pradas and Manolos are piling up on the ever-so-modern and ever-so-uncomfortable sofas, as the Roofies are being fondled in the pockets of sharp-dressed men with black town cars on call. Up here, in our alternate universe, the blogging crowd comes in all sizes and shapes with wardrobes that run the gamut from t-shirts and baggy denims to bespoke suits with pocket squares with custom folds.

"Just look at them," Simon says with the weary tone of man who has accomplished something very difficult and ever so slightly insane. "Just imagine how smart they all are. Just imagine the overwhelming intelligence of this group."

Jim Lowney's Blog:

Blair was making up stories about me in Bosnia and then said something about covering 9-11.

“So, you went right from the war in Bosnia to 9-11?” asked one woman. The woman next to her also eagerly awaited my answer.

I just looked at them and said not exactly. There was a six year gap between events. In all fairness, why should they know or care about the Balkan wars from 10 years ago? I was there, so it is matters to me, but I can’t fault anyone for a lack of knowledge about it.

The women, both 40ish and well-dressed, seemed nice and reasonably intelligent but disturbingly disconnected from the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. It was as if they had mentioned a class in college they once took and had some authority on the subject. I mean, did anyone actually “go to 9-11”?

Comments

[Jason Coleman]

Great post Dan, Great Post!

--Jason

[cindi in pa]

I would rather be the the beautiful Filipino woman, than a blogger that night. Oh, what the hell, on any night.

[beautifulatrocities]

Wicked

[jolari]

Great post

[suzyqueue]

Come on, Dan, play fair! You're actually starting to sound like you're making a case that PJM is the crass, commercializated corruption of a free-form art!

[Beth]

I'm so glad I did White Trash Wednesday today.

Lowney's piece is probably the BEST, most realistic assessment of the blogosphere to ever appear online. I dunno how you unearthed that gem, but THANK YOU for confirming everything I've said (only intuitively, not with a REAL story) about stick-up-the-ass bloggers for the last year.

Thanks, Dan.

[donsurber]

Yup, all those Braniacs in that room sucking down $3.5 million. Yes, so much smarter than us -- just like CNN is so much smarter than us -- just like NYT is so much smarter than us -- just like Dan Rather is so much smarter than us.
I'm all for people making money. Hope they sell a lot of ads.

[Jane]

Isn't "elite" and "blogger" a contradiction of terms, an oxymoron? The whole point of blogging I thought was, if the commissar will forgive me, to be the voice of the proletariat.

[Vanderleun]

I give up. I don't really know and I wrote one of them.

Can I have a hint?

[Dan]

I give up. I don't really know and I wrote one of them. Can I have a hint?

Posted by: Vanderleun | Dec 1, 2005 2:27:35 PM

Thank God you didn't say "clue." ; ) You're a wonderful writer, thank you for coming by. I'll be posting more on it tonight after work, if you're genuinely interested.

[Vanderleun]

Yes I am, but to be honest I almost did say "clue" but I shot myself in time.

[suzyqueue]

but I shot myself in time.

Posted by: Vanderleun | Dec 1, 2005 4:20:02 PM

Vanderleun - Hope you the bullet didn't richochet and break your leaded chrystal OJ glass.

1."...What you see is what you get not who you get; its what they say, not who they are. Which is, I suppose, the whole point of bringing the top bloggers of the world to New York City...." (Vanderleun - http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/005886.php)
2.“They were upset in less time than it takes a knee to jerk and that knee has kept on twitching.” (Vanderleun - http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/005886.php)"
3. “Don't listen to Roger Simon and Charles Johnson. They're so crazy they've actually organized bloggers, signed up the top 100, gotten a lot of them to come to New York and drink, eat and talk together, and created the "Yahoo" of blogs at Open Source Media.” (Vanderleun http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/005886.php)
4. “The Rainbow Room, the crown jewel of Rockefeller Center, offers spectacular views from the 64th and 65th floors.” http://www.rainbowroom.com/index.htm

1. elitism: The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2. Have you ever had the pleasure of working for a company that has gone corporate? Just wait, your fun has just begun; whether as OSM or PJM.
3. So what? Bloggers are nuts; you could probably sign them up to do just about anything. BTW - ever hear of the dot-com crash?
4. Pretty nice place for a group of non-elitist bloggers to hang around in their jammies.

I wish you well with your venture; but please don't try to pass it off as being representative of the blogging world - even to a non-blogger like me.

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

Pounding Rap? Well I am glad I didn't fly all the way over to NYC for the launch then...