How Did We Do in Month One? Reply Hazy, Try Again

Ask the Magic 8 Ball and you always get an answer. We asked whether Brentwood Patch's  first month online was a good month online, and got these replies (eventually):

As I see it, yes * It is certain * It is decidedly so * Most likely * Outlook good *Signs point to yes * Without a doubt * Yes * Yes – definitely * You may rely on it * Reply hazy, try again * Ask again later * Better not tell you now * Cannot predict now * Concentrate and ask again * Don't count on it * My reply is no * My sources say no * Outlook not so good * Very doubtful

If "reality" is indeed manifest in simultaneous multiverses, there is only one way to understand these answers:

Stop! You're both right!

Recent research shows our perceptions are affected by emotions and sensations below our conscious level: Desirable objects seem closer, holding a warm cup makes one more agreeable, a heavier resumé seems more impressive.

Brentwood Patch has been online for a month—since Dec. 29—and assessing our brief experience is difficult. Any extrapolation of our future is even hazier, even with a nice warm cup of Sumatran from

I can say, however, that I am proud of these stories:

• The illustrated how we can be effective advocates for the neighborhood.
• Linda Rubin's reporting dramatically showed how the city's budgetary crisis impacts us right in the heart of Brentwood.
• The popularity of our means we're publishing local news that folks are hungry for.
• The Police Blotter gives us a chance to see whether our helps make sense of local criminal patterns.

Since everything we try here is a first for us, and for Brentwood, making objective assessments, if there are such things, is an epistemological conundrum itself.

We have no baseline. We have only the future. And if the outlook is hazy, we try, try again.

So if a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest, is that really so bad?