Tag Archives: journalism

I Vote, But My Ballot Does the Talking

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

WordPress asked a yes-or-no question, and the smart aleck in me wanted to answer it exactly: yes. I vote. But I let my ballot do the talking. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Social, But Not Exactly

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Social media gave people permission to announce things they once wisely kept to themselves—and somehow convinced them the rest of us were waiting eagerly for the update. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Five-Year-Old Me Had No Career Plan Whatsoever

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Some children grow up announcing they want to be astronauts, doctors, or firefighters. At five years old, I had no such vision. My first serious ideas about the future didn’t show up until much later — and when they did, they came with names like Bob Costas and Pulitzer Prize dreams. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Teaching in the Digital Age

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Technology has made teaching faster, broader, and in many ways more efficient—but it has also introduced distractions, new demands, and challenges that teachers from earlier generations never had to navigate. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Last Thing I Learned

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

WordPress asks another one of its famously broad daily questions: “What’s the last thing you learned?” The answers range from classroom revelations to a television installation and a 1970s automotive scandal. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Standing at the Crossroads

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

When I imagine the opening line of my autobiography, it begins at a crossroads between two lives: the fast-paced world of journalism and the quieter but deeply meaningful world of faith, teaching, and writing. Looking back, I realize those paths were never really separate. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Life Dedicated to Words and Faith

Posted on February 14, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

When I look back over my life, two threads keep reappearing — words and faith. From newsrooms to classrooms, from writing stories to trying to live one faithfully, those two commitments have shaped who I am and who I’m still becoming. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Semantic Whiplash: When Words Change Faster Than Meaning

Posted on January 18, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Language evolves—but not at the speed of a viral trend. I’m inventing a phrase for the very thing I’d like to un-invent: semantic whiplash, when words are reassigned overnight and everyone pretends that’s progress. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Better Question Than the One We Were Asked

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Today’s question—“In what ways do you communicate online?”—isn’t wrong, but it’s thin. Before answering it, I stopped to think about what makes a question worth answering at all. Sometimes the most meaningful response is to rewrite the question first. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

My Long, Winding, Occasionally Uninvited College Tour

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

I attended college the hard way — with false starts, one official uninvitation, a detour through the U.S. Air Force, and a community college class that accidentally changed my life. It turns out learning sticks better when you’re finally ready to show up. Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Prompt, Random | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment