I started to write my Friday blog this afternoon about Cloud Funding. I wanted to cover a variety of sources for raising money from many small and micro investors. I have been investing through Prosper and Kickstarter for several years now. I even inquired about investing in Schubros Brewing when they were looking for backers, but the entry-level investment was too much for me and I don't like beer.

Then I heard about the shooting in Colorado, and I thought about writing my blog on the Second Amendment and how it is so misunderstood. The so-called "originalists" on the Supreme Court, Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, cannot possibly believe that our founding fathers intended for everyone to have the right to own assault weapons when the most sophisticated firearm available in 1777 was a black powder musket.

I looked over the City Council Agenda for this Tuesday night and whoa, who says our elected officials do not care what we think? They must be reading the blogs, because the Agenda has an item to put the PIO (Public Information Officer) position on hold. So there's another story waiting to be told.

I've also been reconsidering running for DSRSD again. Yesterday I spoke to Sue Stephenson at the Dublin San Ramon Services District about when the filing period starts and ends. It started now. So far Director Pat Howard is the only candidate to file. The filing period could be extended through August 15th if one incumbent doesn't file by August 10th.

I asked a clerk at the Alameda County Registrar's Office if Director Dan Scannell's resignation extends the filing period and he said "No, only if an incumbent doesn't file." So that leaves Rich Halket, who hasn't filed yet, but it is still early. Halket told me in our Blogcast Radio interview that he's ambivalent about running again; so he might not, but I think he will.

Everyone has been telling me, "Third time's the charm," but I'm not as motivated as I was the last two times. Not only that, I like the direction DSRSD has been going in for the last year. Staff and Directors have implemented a lot of what I wanted to do; so I feel my input is getting input and I don't need to be on the Board to get these things done anymore.

The last time I ran in 2010, my Editor wouldn't publish any of my stories. I resented this, but Sue Stephenson said the Editor was only following fair political practices. Stephenson said having my name in print in the San Ramon Express gave me an unfair advantage over other candidates.

When I ran the last time I was mostly writing news stories, but I like writing my blogs and I can't do that anonymously, so that's a disincentive to run again.

I am still teaching online for University of Phoenix. Recent newspaper and TV stories have been attacking For Profit online colleges, saying we take advantage of our students. I take my job and responsibilities to our students very seriously; so I started writing a rebuttal to these attacks, but that's another story for another time and place.

So my blog this week is a potpourri of bits of stories that are not quite ready for prime time, but their time will come. Will my name be in the by-line or will I be on the campaign trail for DSRSD? That's a question I can't answer yet.