Modern is not inherently relevant

When I started the Kramer Paper Online (KPO) three years ago, I had a vision of carrying the family newsletter I had written on and off since I was a young boy into the twenty-first century. The Kramer Paper in its print form, has only been seen by a handful of people, but what it is like is evident by the posts on this blog up to this point. These posts are written in a third-person news style, or a personal reporting style, like might be written for a class paper. Regardless, they all have one thing in common. Even as I have grown into a man, the wording and phrasing of these articles comes across more as a diary entry than a news article. And that's fine: the Kramer Paper was, for most of it's run as a print newsletter, my equivalent of a daily journal (or weekly, monthly, depending on where it was in its lifespan.) The choice between these two styles restricts me too much as a creative writer. The KPO is no longer a newsletter: it's a personal blog, and I have beliefs, interests, and adventures that I could share better in this context. While I may continue to offer Kramer Paper newsletters in the old format as, say, a christmas letter, the KPO needs to move away from the news-style and accept its place on the blogosphere.
The Kramer Paper was actually quite dead when I revived it, but I saw a need to bring it back. I had moved out of home for the first time, and wanted to share where I was. Few people understood why I was doing this, with phone calls and email, and I can understand why. See, when I revived the KP in its online format, I saw it continuing to write news articles like I had written when I was younger, but upgrade it to a more modern setting. Which brings me to my point: modern is NOT always relevant. A sinking ship cannot always be saved by a simple upgrade, nor can a simple change result in a new creation. I think about Interflug's A310s while I write this, acquired three years prior ot the demise of the company. While I am sure that these two situations are really no comparison, but the point I am attempting to make is this: a blog needs to say something that people want to hear. The Kramer Paper made money because a cute young boy was writing articles for family and friends. That little boy has grown (though I hope in spirit this may not entirely be the case.) The Kramer Paper does not merely need to modernize and hit the internet, it needs to evolve and change as I grow, or it will go the same way as the aforementioned East German airline and, for that matter, its homeland.
"Mommy blogs" as I call them are evidence that a blog about family life can be interesting and relevant, but I am not a mom, nor will I ever be, I being a man: but I digress. The point is that articles written in a faux-news format that I have used on and off for the past sixteen years cannot continue, at least not as the primary bread-and-butter of the blog. I would very much like to continue writing articles (or posts as the case may be) under the name of the Kramer Paper. Yes, 'Kramer Paper' sounds silly. Yes, it is uncreative. (Though you try creating a good newspaper name with the last name "Kramer.") However that name has graced sixty-three issues of a family newsletter over the course of sixteen years. It may be a perfect time to quit, and I will. However I don't think that the KP needs to be retired. So with no further ado, I present to you the new "Kramer Paper." Our new slogan should be a clue as to where the KPO is going. More posts like this. It may be renamed at some point, it will certainly be re-considered, (it is now the KPO after all, not merely the KP) but I think the newsletter first published in 2000 will continue to exist, in some name and in some form, for many years to come. Whether the KPO remains relevant however remains to be seen. -KP

Editorials, Issue 64