How I Got My Start

Since arriving here in California, I've been reminded of my own personal history. Believe it or not, I wasn't always... Oh hell, yes I was. Still, I like to think I've matured in the last three years that I've lived in Nevada.

My first big blog gig was at Calitics in 2007. I pretty much covered the OC beat... And raised a whole lot of hell. I'm still proud of the hell-raising I did over a proposed toll road through a state park to the beach.

I then moved onto The Liberal OC, and I had a chance to grow some more and learn from the pro's on how to properly "muck-rake" and get to what's really happening in local politics. While I sometimes behaved as the local blogs' "wild child", I like to think I was at least of some use. I still won't forget my experience investigating the strange goings-on in Dana Point City Hall.

My final posts in OC were for an upstart blog. It was quite fun to be at the ground floor of something for a change, and my colleagues there encouraged me to dig deeper into the kind of policy wonkiness that you've all come to know and love me (hopefully!) for now.

Trust me, I didn't quite take a short & easy path to ProgressNow's, Desert Beacon's, & The Nevada View's respective blog rolls. Before Elizabeth Halseth, there was Diane Harkey. Before Yucca Mountain, there was Trestles. Before the beautiful train wreck that is the Nevada Republican Party, there was the grueling machine that was the Orange County Republican Party. Before I began experiencing the true "fabulosity" of Nevada politics, I had to learn my way through the hurly burly of Orange County politics.

And I appreciate all my old friends (and even some old foes) who helped me reach the point I'm at today.