A crotchety curmudgeon. A war-time journalist for the U.S. Army. A humorist. A somewhat reluctant television personality. A former news correspondent. A husband. A father.
Andy Rooney 1919-2011
A writer.
I had a love/hate relationship with Andy Rooney. He made me laugh. He annoyed me. But always, he made me think. And I love a person who makes me think.
I’ve been watching him on 60 Minutes for as long as I can remember. There are some episodes, thanks to the invention of TiVo, where I’d skip to the last 10 minutes of the show just to watch Andy Rooney.
I’ve tried to copy his style. To no avail. But when I’m a bit down about my own blog and how I don’t seem to have a direction, I think of him. It annoys me that I can’t find some niche. That I’m a female who blogs but it’s not a “mom blog” or a “writer’s blog.” I sometimes feel like a square peg in a round hole. It’s just a blog. And I write about the serious and the mundane.
Hey. Kind of like Andy Rooney.
So, I secretly convince myself that I’m more of an Andy Rooney blog. Although, I’m not sure Andy would appreciate the comparison. But that’s ok. He’ll never read me. He hasn’t read me. Not that I know of, anyway.
But some people have read me. And they like what I’ve written. And that is what is important. To get the written word out there, hopefully to be read. But just get it out there.
My readers are kind of like my friends from high school. A mixed bag. I was friends with jocks, nerds and the artsy fartsy types. Today, my readers are executives, homemakers, chefs, musicians and teachers with a few artsy-fartsy thrown in for good measure.
But writers.
Every last one of them.
And am I honored to be in their presence. They inspire me. They make me laugh. They make me think. Together we get our thoughts out there to share, to see and be seen. We do our part to shift the cosmos a little, to shake up conventional wisdom. And I love that about all of you.
Our words are read. Some are preserved on paper. Some words are preserved on the internet. But they live on. And they touch souls. They open minds.
Yes, Andy Rooney. Thank goodness that writers never die.
Theycallmejane's Blog 
I will miss Andy Rooney. I would like to be a writer of words worth being read. But I am unwilling to work hard at it. I like the sharing of thoughts, I like reading others’ thoughts, and sometimes in the saying of “nothing” a great deal is being said. Write on, Jane. You may not be Andy Rooney, but you put words together in a very good way.
I liked Andy. Sometimes his tangents went too far afield, but more often than not, I agreed with him. If I didn’t, I at least appreciated his expression.
I like your blog the way it is. I can only take pure “look at my offspring” blogs in small doses.
Whew. Thankfully you mentioned “artsy fartsy” or I might have felt I was left off your list of friends. 🙂
A wonderful tribute.
An “Andy Rooney” blog. Yes. Fitting.
I really enjoyed his clips on the show. There did come a point though where I started to find him too cynical and stopped watching him, though.
He is a classic and always will be. He’s right up there with Erma Bombeck in my mind.
I, for one, love that you are all over the map. All boring people stay on one path.
I’ll miss him too. And I was thinking how lovely that his family, his wife, his children, his grandchildren, will be able to visit him through his writing and his television spots, whenever they need an “Andy fix.” As can we all. You are right. Writers never die. And you are definitely a writer.
Andy always made me think, too.
I am an Andy Rooney fan and I love how you characterized your words as as “Andy Rooney” blog. Just perfect.
I like your Andy Rooney style. I also find it hard to be characterized in one “blogenre”