Just What Is The Other Blog?

So here it is: the first official post to The Other Blog. Thanks for stopping by.

I know that some of you couldn't wait. That you clicked the link to this site about a dozen times since I built this blog, last Thursday, only to be told to come back today.

Well, today has arrived. I hope it was worth the wait. I'll try to make it worth your while.

Not like Oprah Winfrey's final show.

Boy, was that the wrong time to tune in for the first time. I mean, I'm not at home at 4:00 that often on a weekday. I do work from home on Wednesdays, but the TV almost never goes on. I blame the CBC for me turning on the TV at 4:00 last Wednesday. It was all the hype about the final Oprah show. I heard about it on Ottawa Morning, and that was the first time I learned that on that particular day, Oprah would be broadcasting her final show. That was news to me; I mean, I knew she was wrapping up her show. I just didn't know it was that day.

Later, on Ontario Today, guest host Hallie Cotnam held a call-in where fans of Oprah related their favourite memories and what the end of the show meant to them. If not for the fact that I was busy, working, while the radio played, I would have shut it off. But I wanted to hear news, and so the radio stayed on and I endured the fans prattle on.

Don't get me wrong: I'm sure Oprah has done good things for people in need, and she has been as loyal and true to her fans as they have been to her. I know she's been generous, giving to charities, rewarding people in her audience with cars and vacations. Good for them. Good for her.

But I've never been a fan, never seen what the fuss is all about, never been tempted to watch the show. Until the final one.

Because I had heard so much about the final Oprah show on CBC Radio One, I thought I would tune in and see the Queen of daytime talk shows go out with a bang. Given some of the spectacular shows I had heard of in the past—Tom Cruise bouncing on her sofa and the aforementioned giveaways—I thought it would be interesting to see how she would top any of her other shows.

My, how Oprah went out with a whimper, not a bang.

I should have turned off the TV as soon as she said there would be no givaways, for the audience members to not even try to reach under their chairs. Instead, I left the TV on and finished up my work, only listening in and occasionally turning my head. I'm glad I had my work to keep me stimulated. Had I merely been watching the show, I would have nodded off.

I guess you had to be a dedicated fan. I guess you had to have watched most, if not all, of Oprah's shows to appreciate the final kick at the can. Sure, there were a couple of good sound bites.

"Nobody but you is responsible for your life. You are responsible for your life. What is your life? What is all life? What is every flower, every rock, every tree? Energy. And you’re responsible for the energy you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others."

"There’s a difference between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing that you are worthy of being happy. Your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough."

Yeah, that's good stuff.

But seriously, a whole hour of evangelizing? Give me a break! Boring.

No, I hope I don't do that with The Other Blog. I may go on rants from time to time, but I hope to make your visits worthwhile.

I hope that you will follow me on this blog. I plan to post views, photos, fiction, and contests—here's where I'll continue my Where In Ottawa? contest and will start my Where In The World? contest. Stay tuned. Stay in touch.

And thanks for visiting.