Shame on me for not posting anything in a while. Following The Morning Call's downfall has been psychologically draining, to say the least.

One of the many joys of being unemployed is a newfound fascination with social media sites. I used to think these sites were for losers who had way too much idle time. But suddenly it's all about the networking when you have no job and are looking to drum up some freelance business. I'm LinkedIn, Elanced and ready to Twitter at will, but not much thought is given to the unpleasant byproduct of putting lots of personal information out there for all the world to see. A blog is one thing, but social networking requires that you and your accomplishments become the primary focus. It almost demands a bit of narcissism in order to make yourself more appealing to the widest possible audience. After working at TMC for 23 years, touting my strengths does not come easily.

So far I have avoided Facebook and MySpace as being too juvenile, but I admit, I did get a bit of thrill the first time I "tweeted" on Twitter. And it was all about me—a link to a posting on my Web site.  Now I'm just wondering when will it be enough? When do you know that you're networked-out? I guess that answer will come when I start getting paid work out of it. Ahem. . . anybody out there need a photographer or writer?