Blue in a world of red.

"I want this to be informal," he said with jarring volume, sound waves rolling across the Macs and accompanying blue-lit faces. Green stripes, bright enough to hint at a mischievous streak, zipped across his black tie. Kurt Hochenauer, author of the blog Okie Funk, spoke to our blogging class today, partly because he writes a successful blog, and partly because Dr. Clark went to India.

Seeming to me the height of academic journalism, he explained how, after a ten-year journalism stint, he got his doctorate in English. "I felt it was really shallow," he said of journalism. Hochenauer started Okie Funk in 2004 to represent political diversity in Oklahoma.

"I just realized....that Oklahoma needed more liberal voices. I really wanted to do a counter to the Oklahoma's editorial page," he said with striking honesty. He wanted "to frame news in a liberal and progressive way." As an opinionated Democrat in a Republican state, Hochenauer has taken his share of criticism for his views.

"I've had personal attacks....I had physical threats," he said. But blogging provides both an outlet for his political voice and a motivation for regular writing. One downside of Okie Funk, however, lies in the lack of new political movements in Oklahoma.

"I've been writing about the same things for a long, long time," Hochenauer said ruefully. "I do it just trying to change things here."

He pointed out a recent post. "I was actually just sitting in my recliner with my laptop. It keeps my mind going," he said, slurring his words in mockery of old age,"and that's what's important. And the medicine."


I took this picture surreptitiously, like a creeper.

As far as the issues extend, Hochenauer supports free parking as a benefit for faculty, Brad Henry for UCO president and designated smoking areas (all the important issues). Oh, and the guns on campus issue: "Guns on campus - I'm against it," he said simply enough. I'm not planning on packing heat anytime soon, so as a May graduate, my opinion feels fluid at best.

Hochenauer said times look tough for "people who are tied to the newspaper in romantic ways - 'I just love the feel of newspapers in my hands.' I think it's an exciting time in journalism."

When I asked what advice for blogging he would give, he said, in this post, "I would write about the decline of newspaper, the continuing domination of internet-related journalism." I found myself more interested in writing about Hochenauer than reflecting on the overtalked topic of the death of journalism as we know it.  I think he enjoyed the class, and we certainly did.

"He said you were a talkative bunch - and you are."