[Dusts his broom.]

A bit of housekeeping: Welcome to Blocletters 1.0.

I mapped this site out on an 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet of notebook paper back in February. Fruition has proved a wild ride - at least for me. Of course, my brother (thankfully) insulated me from the dirty-hands coding aspect of the site. Readers who like what they see should give Hi-Fi Creative a holler for their Web development needs.

The addition of the RSS feed completes my original conception. Blocletters will continue to grow and evolve - after all, I have the domain for three years - but at a slower, more Darwinian rate.

I hope readers have taken, and will continue to take, something away from these musings.

Speaking of readers, I welcome ideas. Do you have topical suggestions? Send them in. (I haven’t run out of ideas yet, but this daily writing tugs on the noggin somethin’ fierce.) As I said in my first post, I like to explore “politics, culture or religion.”

Also, I haven’t had many takers for the role of guest barista. I, like everyone else, am busy, and haven’t had the time to solicit. Pang to write your mind? Let me know.

Saturday, the Association for Young Journalists held a state-wide get-together of in St. Petersburg. The group met at the Poynter Institute, home of the nearly all-seeing Romanesko and the wise Dr. Ink (on hiatus).

If the mahogany-trimmed Deco design of the facility doesn’t impress visitors, the voluminous resources will. In addition to meeting and teaching space, Poynter has a well-stocked multimedia lab and a library.

This young journo was, um, twitterpated.

The seminar covered the AYJ’s national progress, and ideas for state efforts. Hopefully, some of those efforts can help elevate the AYJ profile.

We also sat for a presentation by Poynter’s Evelyn Hsu. She discussed boss-lackey relations and career strategy.

Afterward, we went to the bar. I know what you’re saying; that’s like some esoteric fish/bicycle concept. But, no, journalists really do seem comfortable in bars. In this case, it was Caddy’s on Sunset Beach.

I talked a bit with La Pluma Roja, who is a copy editor at the St. Petersburg Times. I spoke more with Mark Matthews, who drives the Florida AYJ bus. I had a serious amber bock-driven discussion of the future of journalism with a guy named Pedro, who later stripped to his boxers and dove into the Gulf.

Overall, it proved a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday.