#editing

Where was everyone's favorite editor and pilot of
a balloon-propelled house on Friday night?

This past Friday night, the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and I found ourselves in front of the television, in a most Norman Rockwellian manner, watching a program that wasn't being DVR'ed. We were actually watching it at its regularly scheduled time. What show, you ask? The Amazing Race, thank you very much. We are long time 'Race' fans and since it's been relegated to TV's graveyard, Friday night, we try to watch it at the appointed hour as much as possible. As we watched this latest episode, I took to the Twitters to make an snarky comment observation about one of the racers. In said tweet, I pointed out that the racer was this season's tool. It quickly got a few favorites and retweets and that was that. On Saturday, I noticed someone had responded to my Tweet and made an even snarky remark about the tool/racer and by later that day, I had inadvertently gotten into a loop of Tweets involving three of the current season's racers, including one who has already been very vocal about his dislike of the guy I had referenced. He wanted to point out that everyone was cool and that it was all #editing.

Of course it's editing. The masterminds behind this show, and pretty much any other reality show, know exactly how to manipulate their audiences through all manner of tools, but in reality programming, editing is a 'killer' app. Editing turns a nice guy into a tool. Editing turns a stumble into a disaster of epic proportions. Editing turns the Kardashians into decent people...wait, I have to stop there. No editing software, nor an editor with all the experience in the world, even the great 'Lou Grant' could do that.

This little Twitter kerfuffle got me to thinking about the concept of editing and the role it plays here in the Den. The point of editing is to correct, condense and organize a work so that you deliver a consistent, complete, and accurate work. It also helps that it's something people want to read / see / hear, etc.. As the writer and editor of this little piece of real estate on the interwebs, I endeavor to deliver a 'warts and all' view of my life. I mean I've subjected you to my gout, my gall bladder surgery and enough tales about the travails of middle-aged physicals to give any one thinking of medical school about 189 reasons to rethink their career choices. I've been upfront about those moments when I've not been the greatest husband and where I'm not winning #fatheroftheyear too. Does that mean I've told all? Heck no, techno. Just like the editors on any good reality program, I can cut things as needed and I do. Seriously, I do (although I'll just go ahead and apologize now for the fact that I have a physical at the end of this month so there will be some kind of overshare coming).

Personal blogging is a funny thing. You are inviting the world into your life. I'm not in it for an opportunity to make money; hence no sponsored posts or ads. Nor am I in it to promote an agenda (take it easy, my Mittite friends). I'm not here to portray a life where everything is sunshine and roses. So why do I do it? I'm realizing more and more that I'm a storyteller and this place is where I choose to tell / share those stories.

I said that I'm not here to portray a life where everything is sunshine and roses. That's not my life. But  it's a pretty darn good life, no matter how it's edited. I may not have the irascible Lou Grant as an editor, but I'm going to continue to do my best to deliver on tales from that life.