A Daring Adventure

Too Little and Too Much (Regarding Blogging, the ACLU, and NIPPLES)

Unless mine is the only State blog that you read, you already know that there are two HUGE blogging-related, State Department firestorms out there on the internet right now... and both are related. One has to do with State bloggers and the ACLU, and the other has to do with State bloggers and the official list of such on the right-hand side of the State Department's state.gov website. 


Simply put, the State Department has two completely opposite opinions when it comes to social media (like blogging). One side of State wants nothing more than to shut down all State blogs. Period. Blogs by employees, blogs by spouses, it doesn't matter - all of them should be GONE. 


My husband has personally seen this side of State many, many times, via many different official people, during the course of an uncountable number of official meetings over the last few years. As many of my readers know, my blog has been shut down twice...most recently, just a couple of months ago. The only reason why my blog is up now and still exists today is because my DS Special Agent husband feels most emphatically that:


1.) I am a private U.S. citizen, and

2.) My blog represents/is protected by my right to freedom of speech.


Believe me when I say that he has endured much in defense of his position.


My husband is not alone in his belief that blogging is protected, free speech. Recently, the ACLU has jumped headfirst into the nasty fight currently going down between State and Peter van Buren. In support of blogging/free speech, the ACLU has written quite the awesomest of letters. In it, the ACLU says that State's blogging policies/practices are far, far too restrictive. That State's punitive actions against bloggers are unconstitutional. (And the ACLU hasn't even touched on the issue of other shut-down blogs or even the fact that non-employee SPOUSES write a large amount of State blogs.)


According to Diplopundit, if I understand correctly, State's initial reaction to the ACLU letter regarding bloggers' rights was to immediately... forbid all employees to read the letter. 


(Can they even DO that?  If so, on what grounds? It sort of looks like they classified the letter. Again, can they do that??)


So, yeah. That's one side of State - the side that hates blogging. With a passion.

                                                  ~   ~   ~


There's another side of State - the side that loves State blogs and blogging. In fact, just as much as the anti-blogging side wants nothing put out on the internet at all, the pro-blogging side can't get enough from us official State bloggers about State, our lives with State, our travels, our experiences, etc. 

(And I refer to myself as an "official State blogger" because, again, State keeps an official List of bloggers on the right side of its official state.gov website, and I've been on that List since the very first day it came out a few years ago. I'm actually listed *first*! Alphabetization! WOO!)

When The List first appeared and I was asked to be on it, James and I were overjoyed because we (mistakenly) thought that being on The List would thus mean that James would stop getting harassed by official channels over my blog. Because, you know, we figured that since I was all OFFICIAL NOW AND STUFF, that meant that I would have some semblance of authentication or protection or something.


HA HA HA!!!


Being on The Official Blog List actually painted an even bigger bulls eye on my back. And not just on my back, but on the backs of other State bloggers on The List. To date, to my knowledge, at least three State bloggers (and perhaps even up to five) on The List have since been shut down. And there were probably, oh, I don't know, only about a dozen or so blogs on that List when it began. So, you know, not the best odds of bloggy survival.


So, basically, to recap: The pro-blogging side of State puts The Official List together and encourages bloggers to write tons and tons of State-themed blog posts, and then the anti-blogging side of State goes and... shuts those blogs down because they're writing about State-themed stuff.


Don't know about you, but THAT MAKES *PERFECT* SENSE to me.


Well, State can't have dead blogs (that it shut down) linked to on its Official List after their demise. (Which it did, for a while, actually. I recall a time when two of the blogs were shut down and The List kept the dead blog links up on there for quite a while. They were just... dead links... that went to nothing when you clicked on them. It was odd.)

So someone at State must have realized that The List had to be actively updated. That the murdered blogs must be replaced with fresh, happy new ones! And then they evidently decided that they weren't just going to trim murdered blogs off The List, but also blogs that they felt WEREN'T "STATE ENOUGH," or didn't write frequently enough about State issues. (Which is utterly hilarious, because, like I said, one side of State shuts down blogs that it feels are too State, and the other is now removing blogs from its List when it feels that they aren't State enough.) 


One such recently-removed "not State enough" blog is written by my dear, sweet, amazing friend Jen Dinoia. Like other bloggers, I "grew up" in State reading her blog (because she and her husband, Peter, have been with State/DS far longer than many of the rest of us) and wanting to be like her. (Alas, I will never ACTUALLY be like her because she is a total sweetheart and I am... NOT.)


When James was first hired by DS, I read Jen's blog from beginning to end - all of her archives - more than once, and have followed her faithfully ever since. It is a privilege and honor to be able to say... she is my friend online. She is my friend in real life. She and I have literally laughed together and cried together. The Foreign Service is LUCKY to have her in its midst.


She's worth a thousand of me.


Jen isn't *just* a State blogger... she also is the glue that holds together basically all of the behind-the-scenes, morale-boosting, cohesion-building nifty communication-and-meet-up stuff for State folks. I mean, you attack Jen's blog, you attack Jen personally, especially when you drag Jen's breast cancer fight (REALLY??) into the reasoning behind why Jen's blog was removed from The List.


So, yes, I stand in solidarity with all other bloggers who have unashamedly used the word nipple (NIPPLE! NIPPLE! NIPPLE!!) in their blog posts today. (Which my husband thinks is utterly hilarious, by the way. A couple of blog posts ago, I used the word penis, and now nipple. Is there NO END to my irreverence?)


And I also call upon The People Who Make The List to please put Jen back on it. She deserves to be there far more than I do. 


[UPDATE: Jen's story is in The Washington Post!! GO JEN!]


                                                 ~   ~   ~


Above and beyond that, though, I will say that there must - and I mean MUST - be a fundamental change behind closed doors at State. State absolutely must wake up and change its senseless, harmful, hurtful reactions to all things social media.


Some of my dear friends (who are all far more intelligent than I) say that State just needs more/better policies regarding social media... but I don't know if I agree. Because until the behind-the-scenes attitude at State becomes blog tolerating instead of blog murdering, additional policies, even if they are initially written by folks at State who are pro-blogging in an attempt to somehow be helpful, could ultimately just be used as bigger bludgeoning clubs against us bloggers by those who are NOT.


And believe me when I say that that's the last thing we need.

Turns Out: I Haven't *Completely Destroyed* My Husband's Career!!

How do I know this?


Because the other morning we woke up to the awesome newz (delivered to us via my husband's Blackberry, who I long ago bitchily nicknamed "Your Girlfriend," as in I call out "Your girlfriend wants you!" when it rings or buzzes, so at least she delivers good news occasionally!) that


MY HUSBAND JUST GOT TENURE!!  


That's right: on his first try!   


Now, this is a big deal for anyone, right?  I mean, going from new-employee-who-can-be-fired-at-will-for-any-reason to real-employee-who-gets-to-actually-keep-this-job-long-term is a big deal no matter *who* you are.  We will be able to eat!  And have health insurance!  WOO-HOO! 


But there are bigger reasons why this is awesome, as well.  First of all, from a professional standpoint, James was worried because between getting hired and being up for tenure, he's been almost permanently in training.  The tenure process already is unknowable and mysterious, and the reasons why Person A gets it and Person B doesn't often aren't at all obvious or knowable, but the gossip has been that those who spend lots of time in training - particularly long-term language training like, oh, say, CHINESE, end up with EERs that are pretty much empty. Not. Good.


But then there was the OTHER reason to be worried that James wouldn't get tenure.  The big, huge, OBVIOUS reason that James wouldn't get tenure.  


Um, you're reading it.


Yes, my friends... THIS BLOG.  This blog (written by James' loudmouth wife).  She tries hard to be a good wife, bless her heart, but somehow her blog has gotten him in very deep trouble on multiple, multiple occasions.  Official, deep trouble, complete with meetings with high up people and unpleasant conversations.  On multiple occasions.  For multiple reasons.  Over the last few years.  One meeting of which included discussions regarding his upcoming tenure process.  The one he just got through, THANK GOD.  


So yes, I was worried.  


Over the years, this blog has disappeared and reappeared.  It has gone from having lots of State links on its sidebars and linking to other State bloggers to... not having or doing those things (very much).  It often hosted the Weekly Blog RoundUp (back to that in a second). You get what I'm trying to say.    


In fact, did you, by chance, read last month's edition of the Foreign Service Journal (the December 2011 issue)?  If you did, you might have seen the extremely well-written article (starting on page 13, and can be found here) by my dear friend, Matt Keene, regarding State Department bloggers and some of the extremely unpleasant things that have happened to them behind closed doors.  And if you read that article, you read several items about my blog and some of the things that have happened to James and me because of it.  You just didn't know that those parts were about me and James because I hadn't told you yet. But now you know.


The trouble James and I have received has weighed on us heavily. I have cried.  Oh, how I have cried.  I have offered a thousand times (begged, actually, some of them) to delete/be allowed to delete this blog in order to stop my husband from getting into trouble over and over again. The trouble which comes out of nowhere and can never be predicted. The trouble which comes only because some at State hate blogs and blogging.


But James has never let me.  And he has further told me to keep doing what I do and keep being who I am. To be brave.  On multiple occasions, he has told me those things.  Over many years.  Continuously.  


Blogging is very high stakes if you are an employee or EFM with State.  I cannot describe how high the stakes are.  Better, kinder, more talented bloggers than I have been forced to delete their blogs.  Behind closed doors, careers have been destroyed.  And no, I'm not talking about Mr. Publish-A-Book-About-Iraq-Guy or anything like that.  I'm talking about normal people normally blogging about their normal lives.  And then... they aren't.  There are ALWAYS backstories.  And I know some (most, perhaps?) of them.  And I grieve for them.  Because James and I have seen trouble, but are still here.  


I wish they were, too.


The "Tigers" can be anyone, my friends. They can be anyone anywhere at State who can leverage any authority or have any influence over an employee.  They're not just one department or one bureau or one piece of State or whatever.  Sure, they can be that employee's boss, of course... but they can also be their boss's boss, or boss's boss's boss, or anyone at post, or anyone in that section of the world, or anyone anywhere high enough to have any say over what happens to that employee, or anyone in any lateral piece or department who doesn't like blogging in general or that blog in particular.  


So today I celebrate that my husband now has tenure.  Thank you, Tenure Granting People, thank you.  Maybe you knew that James was THAT GUY whose wife has THAT BLOG... and maybe you didn't.  Maybe it wasn't an issue whatsoever... and maybe it was.  Maybe it was discussed and maybe it never came up.  He certainly, certainly deserved to get it, because he's fabulous at what he does.  


So, yes, the RoundUp.   


Which is BACK! ON!


Because my dear friend Jill (The Perlman Update) has taken the RoudUp and run with it!


So Jill is hosting the first week of the RoundUp's resurrection (publish date January 20th) and then Jill will be the new RoundUp hostess from now on - so GO JILL!  I look forward to seeing the RoundUp come back alive... helping people to connect with each other and helping us all share information about the crazy, fabulous, wonderful journey that this State life is.  And I'm grateful to Jill and to everyone else who loved having the RoundUp around and wanted it to come back!


It's a good day!


And if anyone official is having or would like to have a *substantive* dialogue about State blogging policies and how to make them better for the future... and wants to actually include a real, live blogger who has been through the fires multiple times from multiple sources for no good reason whatsoever (only because some folks at State hate blogging even while others are actively championing it**)... you know where to find me.  Because at some point, this has GOT to change.


** See that very first blog link on the right hand side of the official State.gov recruiting webpage?  IT'S MINE. 

Changes

Oh, so much to say.  I think I will number it all.


                                                    ~   ~   ~


1.)




Today is the tenth anniversary of September 11th, so, of course, lots of people have been writing about that.  Where they were, what they were doing, etc.


I was on my way to work, listening to the radio.  Which went from music to news and then... stayed news.


I called my Dad and told him to turn on the tv.  "What channel?"  he asked me.  "Any of them," I told him, and then hung up and called James.


James wasn't a police officer much longer after that.  With the creation of Homeland Security/TSA came new federal job opportunities, and James was fortunate enough to be selected for one.


Going through TSA lines at various airports these last few days while flying around visiting family, I have encountered TSA folks many times.  And though I have railed against TSA on my blog (I even have an entire CATEGORY called "TSA Sucks Royal," which is actually a very popular Google referral to my blog), aspects of the job were incredibly beneficial for James. 


I mean, at one point, he literally managed a federal employee workforce of over 200 people!  How many folks in leadership positions at State have had that kind of federal management experience?  Precious few, right?  There just aren't that many positions available that come with that volume of leadership, because State is so much smaller than Homeland Security.  And James was an excellent, excellent manager, who led by example and with kindness, fairness and respect.  So thank you, TSA, for your positive aspects.


Yes, September 11th was horrible, and I remember it today.


                                                   ~   ~   ~


2.)  I also stand with Jill Perlman and with Jen Dinoia, two dear, dear friends of mine who are also both State bloggers, who remember their friend's son who perished in the DC area flooding a few days ago.  He was twelve years old, the same exact age as my younger son, Zachary.  I cannot even fathom losing my Zachary.  My heart goes out to that family. 


                                                   ~   ~   ~


3.)  I, like Diplopundit (here and here), simply must write about the recent State blogger disappearances. 


If you are not too terribly familiar with the State blogosphere, you may not know that, very recently, two of my favorite blogs have gone dark**: Sass and Sweet and Muttering Behind the Hardline.


[**Which is a nice way of saying that they have been deleted.  Which is a nice way of saying that they probably didn't just decide some random day that they just randomly felt like shutting down.] 


Being a State blogger has never been a safe, risk-free endeavor.  There are many, many bloggers I know whose blogs have not gone dark but who have come under very heavy fire. 


You may notice that my own blog's sidebars (and some former blog posts) have been re-designed today.  Some things that used to be there are gone.  Some things that were not there before have newly appeared.  I'm not going to enumerate the changes, but I am going to ask that if you notice what they are, that you trust me and trust my judgment.  That I took down what I did for a reason.  That I have put up what I have for one, too. 


That, like all other bloggers, I'm doing my best to try to navigate these funky waters. 

Total Hilarity Ensued (or: Blog Deletion v. 2.0)

So I was doing basically nothing last night, minding my own business (I'm beginning to see a pattern here), when out of the blue a most wonderful and fabulous person reached out to me via a communications method (The Dinoia Family).  I read the words:


"Are you okay?  Is everything okay?"


And I was initially confused.  I was fine;  things were fine;  life was fine. 


But then, in the back of my mind, the soundtrack to Jaws began playing.

You see, last Thursday, I had pressed what I can only describe as The Total Deletion Button on my Typepad blog.  I had actually pressed it over and over and over again.  The process went something like this:

~  ~  ~

Hi, Typepad user!  To delete your entire blog, all of its contents, and even your very account, click this button.  (click)


Okay, you clicked that button, but did you really mean it?  Because clicking that button means that you want to delete your entire blog, and everything in it, and your very own online Typepad self.  (click)


We're just double checking, to make very sure that you've understood that you clicked the delete button.  (click) (click!) (CLICK!!)

~  ~  ~

And then it FINALLY gave me a confirmation ("You clicked the button.  We're in the process of deleting your blog.  We'll email you when it's all over.") and I had gotten rid of my attached Yahoo email address, so I thought that was that.


Ha Ha!


Well, come to find out, it takes Typepad a WEEK to delete a blog.  So last night, everything was Gone.  Again.  By this time, I was on the phone with the amazingly wonderful (incredibly kind and fabulously phenomenal) person I talked about, above, and once we both really understood what had happened, we just couldn't HELP ourselves.  We laughed and LAUGHED AND LAUGHED. 

Evidently, somewhere in Germany Shannon and Dave were laughing as well!  Because, Dude, this stuff is FUNNY!!  You can't make this stuff up!


As I scrambled to bring back even the barest bones of a blog ("Hi!  It's fine!  I'm here!"), my restored Yahoo email account blipped in a happy little Typepad email ("Just letting you know!  We deleted your blog!  Just like you asked us to!  Please consider using us the next time you think about blogging!") and the hilarity began anew. 


I won't lie; I was initially frustrated.  I had just spent Monday and Tuesday restoring my previously deleted blog, and then it got re-deleted on Wednesday!  And this time, the sidebar link list was even gone!  And so was what I can only describe as the (intentionally vague - sorry, Muttering!) Tiger Treatise ("Tiger" having been previously stolen from Diplopundit, who is, quite honestly, one of the most brilliant people ever, and I mean that).


But... after Deletion 2.0 sank into my consciousness, I was strangely elated.  A fresh start!


And the Tiger Treatise?  I'm secretly thrilled that it's gone.  I have all the darling comments you guys left safely tucked away in my email box, for Typepad emails all comments to me, and the post itself can lie in whatever digital grave there is for deleted posts.  It had generated some funky attention, and had brought about some understandable (yet impossible to answer) emails ("Just to clarify, Ms. Daring Adventure, on line 4 of paragraph 3 you used the word "is."  When you used the word "is"...) because of its (necessary) vagueness.  Bye bye, Tiger Treatise!  God deleted your rear end, so who am I to argue?


So here, life is good.  A clean, fresh start.  A blog with no mistakes.  A sunny day in beautiful Northern Virginia.  The Oakwood weekly maid service even comes today! 


And, best of all, my total fox of a husband had to wear a suit to training class this morning (awesome suit + killer tie = wife eye candy)!  As I watched him painstakingly lintroller every square inch of his recently-moved-to-DC-from-Houston suit (and then also his DRESS SOCKS) right before he walked out the door, I was struck again by just how conscientious and detailed he is.  How he works so hard to Get it Right.  And, ultimately, THAT is what his coworkers are seeing every day, rain or shine, day in and day out.  THAT is what will define his Corridor Reputation.  And I'm proud to be the lucky wife of such a man.