Part of what makes a blogger successful, in my view, is injecting his/her own personality into the content. Who are you wayward blogging person? Tell me, cause I'd like to know. Most of what I write is infused with my personality, but who am I really? (Are you sitting at the edge of your seat yet?) This is the first of possibly many "Monday Morning Musings" - an experiment in "regular features" (themed posts that show up on a regular basis). I'm curious if it's possible to build a following and additional traffic through regular features. Why do it on Monday? Simple: Mondays are hard for a lot of people. If this gives people an early morning chuckle, my work here is done... I've got 2 goals: 1. To entertain. We all like to be entertained and since IGotNewsForYou is in big part about humor and entertainment, this makes sense. 2. To give you some insight into who I am, and some of the stranger things that pop into my head. I bet these thoughts have popped into other people's heads too, but I won't go so far as to say this is an experiment and analysis of our cultural beliefs as a post-modernistic society living in a digital world and an age of over-consumption. Say what now? Without further ado: Thought #1: People in buses I'm all for public transport (it's cheaper than a car, helps the environment) but when a bus full of people pulls in front of you (while you're sitting in your car of course) they really do look like livestock. Most of them look unhappy (I guess I imagine livestock on a cattle car looking unhappy), they're packed in tightly, and things smell funny. I bet if someone "moo'd" on a bus everyone would chime in. A regular Animal House. Thought #2: Mastering time management I'm a huge supporter of managing your time effectively and good project management practices. I'm always looking for efficencies in what I'm doing, and thinking a few steps ahead. Just the other day I was rushing home to pick up my son at daycare. I hopped into my car (you can't take public transit when you're rushing after all) and there was a candy on the seat. I picked it up and tried to unwrap it. The plastic was being belligerent. Meanwhile I hadn't moved yet; I'm still in the parking lot. Realizing this (and remember, this whole process is only taking a few seconds), my brain says to me, "Ben, start driving you assbag. At the next light, unravel the damn candy. Oh and you need it, your breath...ew..." Genius! So off I go speeding through traffic (I never speed, honest) and sure enough at the next light I time it perfectly to have the candy in hand and get it unraveled before the light turns green. Candy in mouth, car in drive, kid picked up. Nice. Thought #3: People singing in their cars I think we all do this at some point. Some of us are more enthusiastic than others. Often, to de-stress I listen to classical music. Of course, singing to classical music (particularly when it's only accoustic) is near impossible. On occasions when I need to lose myself in the music I'll blast something like Dave Matthews. To be specific (since a lot of his newer stuff is crap in my opinion) Dave Matthews Band | Live at Red Rocks. His rendition of All Along the Watchtower is incredible. If the hair on your arms doesn't rise when you listen to that song (at a loud volume) you're either dead or hairless. Or both. And when I listen to "All Along the Watchtower" (and "Typical Situation") I sing till my throat goes hoarse. And the livestock...err...people in the buses next to me look at me like I'm insane. Secretly I think they're saying, "I wish I could be in the car singing. All I can do is whisper, 'moo.'" So sing on my car driving friends! Sing till your lungs burst, your heart bleeds and your voice cracks! And Dave, if you're reading this, please go oldschool to the days of "Under the Table and Dreaming." You were a maestro then. (Technorati Tags: dave matthews band, public transportation, humor, time management)