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Faulking Around - Jan 1, 2005 - Printable Version
- Wishing You the Bluest Sky
by Mark Faulk
I can't believe that it's already 2005. It seems like just yesterday that it was 2004. Oh, wait, it was just yesterday. I know that this is the time to reflect, and to maybe dispense some profound words of wisdom to jump start the New Year. Sorry, folks, when it comes to "words of wisdom", I'm just as clueless as everyone here. Maybe I'll do one of those life-altering "Best of" columns that every one of us so love to read, you know, like "The 20 Hottest Dysfunctional Celebrity Couples of 2004". What? E Television already did that one? Damn, they get all the good stories. What the hell, I guess I'll just write one of those sappy reflective pieces where I pretend that last year (which ended exactly 12 hours and 46 minutes ago.....sorry, make that 12 hours and 47 minutes ago) is some long forgotten era to wax nostalgic about. So, here goes....I was born a poor black child....whoops, wrong intro. Let's try that again. When The Faulking Truth was first conceived, on a drunken winter's eve, the idea so excited me that I knew I had to get the website up that very day. And, lo and behold, The Faulking Truth was launched.....two years later. That's right, I've just divulged one of my most annoying personality traits....I'm a Master of Procrastination. And, in the past few lines....okay, over the past nine months, you're probably beginning to catch on to my two other most annoying traits:
Annoying Trait #1 - Procrastination (see above)
Annoying Trait #2 - I tend to get...now and then....just a tad....off the subject. Here's a "fer instance". Fer instance, I started out this article to recap the first nine months of the Faulking Truth, and now I've somehow segued into a list of my most annoying traits, one of which is the fact that I tend to get off track, which is exactly what I'm doing now. In fact, remember a few minutes ago when I said that 2004 ended 12 hours and 47 minutes ago? Well, that was really almost two hours ago, because I stopped writing in mid-sentence to eat some queso and blue tortilla chips, drink a coke, debate the differences between Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives with my fifteen year old daughter, empty the cat litter box, and discuss how DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa as half masculine and half feminine with my wife. In other words, not only do I take the long way home with every point I'm trying to make, I do the same thing in real life as well. And then, I don't even bother to edit my rambling. Instead, I just say something like, "Now, where was I?", "Do I even have a point here?", "Enough said about that", "So, let's move on", "But, I digress", or "And....I'm back") and start over. And to illustrate this technique, I'll use every one of these phrases in the next couple of paragraphs.
So, let's move on. Annoying Trait #3: - Sometimes I don't have a point at all, but I'll waste hours of everyone's valuable time to make my point, or to not make my point, as the case may be. It's a trait I mastered many years ago to confuse teachers (with great success I might add), going by the theory that if you argue about a subject long enough and passionately enough, they will eventually be fooled into thinking you actually know that hell you're talking about. Do I even have a point here? No, no I don't. Enough said about that.
But, I digress. This article is really about The Faulking Truth.....so here goes. When The Faulking Truth first launched on March 19, my somewhat discombobulated goal was to (interesting sidebar: I just looked up "discombobulated" in the thesaurus, and one of the synonyms is "gonzo", which is an entire school of writing originally popularized by Hunter Thompson, and is most likely closest to the style that I employ, at least until someone can come up with a new category altogether)....and....I'm back. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I started this website out with the idea in the back of my mind (which is a very small, crowded room with woefully poor ventilation) that if I could change even one life for the better, it would have been worth it. And guess what? Somewhere along the line, I achieved my goal. Somewhere, in the midst of all the arguing, cajoling, proselytizing, politicking, and debating, (to steal a line from Robin Buckallew) "the most amazing thing happened". Somewhere along the way, I met people who I connected with in a special way, people who care about their fellow man (or man/woman, in a politically correct world), who truly want to make a positive difference in the world.....people who changed MY life for the better.
At first, it was just me and a couple of itinerant souls against the world. Ken Shade, a brilliant writer and intensely caring individual (not to mention wickedly funny), who was one of the reasons I started this website to begin with, joined me from the start. Russell Tharp has wandered through repeatedly on his way to Lord knows where, adding his unique brand of self-induced drama and off-kilter dementia. On our journey down the Yellow Brick Road, we've picked up some remarkable companions. On April 12, we posted our first article from Robin Buckallew, introducing her column "Global Warning", and The Faulking Truth gained instant credibility. She has made the journey a pleasure, and we wouldn't be here today without her. In late May, we were joined by two writers who have bared their souls even as they have hidden their identities, "Down The Middle" and "Too The Left". (By the way, guys, it's high time you took off your masks and sexy superhero tights and revealed your true identities, in my humble opinion.) Wearing their disguises or totally naked, they have been an inspiration from the very beginning. In addition to our regular contributors, we have been blessed by a supporting group of writers who have carried our site to the next level, adding new perspectives, viewpoints, and insights to our website on a continuing basis. Mike Bohling, Dave Patch, the late Bill Faulk, Kelsey Faulk, Linda Wilson, Kevin Raney, Sean Faulk, Lauren Zuniga, and everyone else who has allowed us to share their wit and charm with our readers: Thank you for everything.
And with that unlikely cast of social misfits, we set out to do....whatever the faulk it was that we could do. We bitched about the Iraqi torture scandal, covered the war in Iraq, debated religion in government, stumbled onto a land mine with the Stockgate scandal, awakened people to the environmental issues that our little planet faces every day, carried the banner in the "Anyone but Bush" election campaign and the subsequent voter fraud issues, decried poverty and racism, called for reform in education, covered homeland security, uncovered internet fraud, wrote heartfelt stories and poems about live, love, and loss, triggered a hundred debates in our guestbook, and generally told the Faulking Truth as we saw it. Hell, we even sparked a couple of (almost) online romances. All in all, it's been a wild ride.
The story doesn't end there. By ourselves, we are nothing more than a few collective voices crying out in the wilderness. We have been supported from the very start by dozens of people who have inspired us, challenged us, touched us, and connected with us in indescribable ways. There are so many people who have challenged and entertained me on a regular basis in our guestbook, sent me article ideas, helped me with research (especially in the stock market scandal series), touched me on a personal and emotional level, and literally changed my life, that I won't even try to name them all here for fear of leaving anyone out. You know who you are...and I love you dearly.
And, like every great movement, we have our non-Farwellian version of the "Silent Majority" behind us. We closed out the year by increasing our readership every month for the past six months, and are now averaging over 70,000 hit per month, with hundreds of thousands of additional readers through postings and links on other websites. So.....thanks to those who visit us on a regular basis....and speak out, all you faulkers! We need to hear your voices. You have given us the strength to persevere in the face of adversity.
Thanks to every one of these fellow faulkingtruthseekers, I (and, I'm certain, all of my partners-in-literary-cyberspace) have grown both as a person and a writer during the past nine months, and dealt with every conceivable human emotion along the way. It's been a tumultuous year, and our detractors have in my mind validated our often controversial opinions just as much as our supporters. We have tried to exhibit compassion and humor in our writing, but we have never (and will never) shied away from pointing out the things that we need to do to make our world a better place.
As the year drew to a close, we rallied together to share a message of hope, love, and optimism for a better future, a message that was returned tenfold by our readers from around the world. In the end, THAT is the message we hope bring to our readers throughout the coming year. We intend to be here every step of the way to share your joys, your pains, your traumas, your neuroses, and your dreams. And that, dear readers, is the one and only Faulking Truth.
I'll close with the lyrics to a song that I first posted on these pages to launch Blogfest 2005 in mid-September. It reflects the optimism that I hope every one of us carry with us throughout 2005.
Better Things
By Ray Davies
Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.
Here's hoping all the days ahead
Won't be as bitter as the ones behind you.
Be an optimist instead,
And somehow happiness will find you.
Forget what happened yesterday,
I know that better things are on the way.
It's really good to see you rocking out
And having fun,
Living like you just begun.
Accept your life and what it brings.
I hope tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.
Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the drudge and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.
I know you've got a lot of good things happening up ahead.
The past is gone it's all been said.
So here's to what the future brings,
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.
(Editor's Daughter's note: I apologize about any words that my father made up in the process of writing this article. (I.E.: "faulkingtruthseekers") I would also like to apologize about any confusion this article may cause. Our family is full of digression, and any point he brought up at the beginning of this article but never finished should be disregarded. Chances are, he already forgot about those "important" points. We tend to do that. You know those "important" things never get discussed anymore! What's wrong with society today, anyways? But I digress..... Oh my stars, I'm turning into my father....)
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