Thursday, October 20, 2005

Happy 100th Post; Pho PhAQs

Between attending a blogger meetup and reaching the 100th post milestone, I've been thinking a lot about what goes on here. I've decided to post a few posts blogging about the blog. The first lays out some information about me and the blog with a Frequently Asked Questions list.

Why "Pho?" Pho is a college nickname. I had been using it on other blogs, discussion groups and so forth for about a year before I started blogging. I decided to blog under a pseudonym, so it fit.

Why a pseudonym? I am active as a volunteer in a number of groups. In some I am to the left of the prevailing political view, in some I am to the right (well, more in the center) and some are studiously apolitical. I was concerned that someone finding a blog under my name might take my opinions as those of a group I belong to. Speaking through an alter ego sends a signal that these opinions are mine alone, not those of any organization I belong to.

Wasn’t this once “Pho’s Norka Pages?” Well yeah, bit of silliness that. “Norka” is Akron spelled backwards. Something of an in joke among Akron hipsters. It was also an homage of sort to a good but unfortunately short-lived Akron portal of a few years ago. Trouble was, it hid the blog from people scrying the ‘net for things Akron. I changed it, but Norka lives on in the URL.

What exactly do you do? Mostly I take care of the kids and the house. We have two daughters – Kid Z is eight. She is, by the way, responsible for the portrait you see up top. Kid T is four. Kid Z is biological; Kid T we adopted from Vietnam when she was one. The "Pho" nickname also appealed to me as a sideways reference to her (pho famously being a Vietnamese noodle dish.) Professor W, my wife, teaches at the University. We all live in a c. 1920 home in West Akron which constantly provides challenging new projects.

What is it like being a stay-at-home dad? Mind-numbing more than anything else. When you inevitably hear the Wiggles’ “Fruit Salad” echo though your brain every time you walk though a produce section, you know something has to give. Me, I took up blogging.

What is your blogging philosophy? My main topics are public policy, law and politics. I try to stay as local as possible. First, I hit Akron political news whenever it presents itself. Second, I try to do gap-filling on NEO or Ohio stories if I see either some information I can add to the conversation or a take no one else has posted. Finally I occasionally go off-topic and hit a national story, if I feel strongly about it.

What is your political orientation? I am liberal, but not reliably so. I am more moderate on some issues, especially on economic policy. I am liberal on most so-called social issues, but pretty moderate on abortion. On foreign policy I am actually somewhat hawkish, at least by liberal metrics.

Can we expect more cheesy wordplay based on the “ph” in your screenname? Abso-phreaking-lutely.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We all live in a c. 1920 home in West Akron which constantly provides challenging new projects.


Ugh... I feel your pain. Our house c. 1929 always needs something too! Hey how's your water tasting? I thought it was pretty gross this past week but they said it was safe... oh well..

Scott Piepho said...

We run our kitchen drinking water through a filter -- highly recommended. So it tastes OK. I did have to down some medicine in the middle of the night with water straight out of the tap and dimly recall grossness.

Hi, I'm Susie. said...

Hello Pho!
I am a student at the University and a writer for the newspaper. I will be covering the Sherrod Brown bit and I hope to see you there (whether truly meeting or not, doesn't matter). Your blog inspired me to create a blog, although I've done this before and keeping up with these blogs has been a task daunted and unfinished. However, I love this city of Akron and I want to know more about it, perhaps participating in it one day. However, I feel I don't know enough about the politics of the city, and maybe you can help me. If not, that's okay. I hope to know more by reading. Have a great day!

Scott Piepho said...

Thanks for writing. I hope to meet you tonight; folks have said they recognize me from the picture my daughter drew. And I'll be banging on my laptop during the event.

I'm happy to share with you what I know, although it's less than you might think. When you are ready for some pub for the new blog, send me a URL and I will blogroll it. If you want to fly under the radar for a bit, I understand -- I did the same until BFD discovered me.

Anonymous said...

You know, you can test someone to see if they have small children by going up to them and saying "fruit salad." If they respond "yummy, yummy" you know you both need to get real lives.

MHB said...

Just curious, what does "moderate on abortion" mean?

Anonymous said...

Pho,

Pho doesn't just mean noodle dish in vietnamese. In vietnamese it really depends upon diacritical marks. But Pho is also a male's name. I knew a man who was from vietnam and was named Phô.

His particular name means "city" and appears in the current name for Saigon (Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh).


--in central ohio

Anonymous said...

To unixguy,

When I moved from california to ohio three years ago, I was glad to be in a more electorally competitive state, both nationally and statewide. It pissed me off to no end that two democrat Jewish Ladies from the Bay Area represent such a diverse state as California. No hispanic? No Asian? Noone from So. cal or an Inland area? And one of those is arguably among the most liberal members of the Senate.

Both California and Ohio tried to change redistricting, but believe me, it was more of a mistake that it was voted down in CA than OH. Believe it or not, even after the disaster of the Special Election, Schwarzenegger is trying again at the redistricting issue in _an election year_.

--in central ohio

beyesn said...

Pho -

Considering the last time I saw you, you were about 20 yrs old, your daughter's rendering is quite good and helps me imagine your current visage! Nice blog,

Barry

Anonymous said...

Hey Russ, I think you left your dildo at Mike Curry's meth lab last night. Swing by the Board of Elections and pick it up from Mrs. Balthis.

11:47 AM
Anonymous said...
nice pic of u Rusty... seems u can keep your mouth open for quite some time. Keep up the fantastic work!