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Rick's Notebook
Profile of the author |
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A Note to My Readers (All 207 of Them): I must announce, with much regret and a little relief, that my August 4 column, "A Brisk Walk Through the Ruins," is the last of my "Cynical Guy" series. I knew it would be my last when I wrote it, and it makes a fitting farewell. I've relished the opportunity to observe our mysterious, sad, amusing and ever-astonishing world in these short pieces for the past two years. I've enjoyed the struggle to unearth the right words from my mind as I wrote them. It was my dream since graduate school to write such columns, and now I feel as fulfilled as an aging salmon that has fought its way upstream to spawn. (I hope my 81 offspring continue to romp around the Web long after I've turned to sawdust, or whatever it is we turn into.) I would feel even more fulfilled if my column had reached a wider audience, or even one legitimate daily newspaper in, say, Scranton or Omaha, but I seem to lack a vital gene for self-promotion. So be it. I'm content to let the self-promoters enjoy their predictable triumphs. If my efforts have succeeded, perhaps you've enjoyed my columns almost as much as I have. I hope they've brought you a weekly dose of rueful mirth and that you've come to regard me as a kindred spirit. I can't see or hear you, but I suspect we understand each other. If you'd like to do me a favor, come back now and then to revisit my old columns. And don't forget to tell your friends about them. Now I must move on to more remunerative projects, and the Cynical Guy must retire meekly to the sidelines. I'm sure he'll continue to observe the scene and shake his head at the inanities that bombard his sensitive mind. But he will have to remain mute until the day that his schedule and the stock market allow him the luxury of writing for the sheer unprofitable joy of it. Until then, he and I remain... Your Cynical Guy, Rick Bayan
"Some Cynical Guy" column archive:
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Rick Bayan was born and raised in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he enjoyed an idyllic suburban childhood—the perfect background for a lifetime of cynical disillusionment. He has held a number of typical jobs for an idealistic liberal arts graduate, including assistant editor of Rubber Age and managing editor of Container News. At Time-Life Books he was assigned to write about plumbing fixtures. His work as copy chief for Day-Timers, Inc.,
won six advertising awards, none of which dampened his cheerfully morose view of business and life. He has written three books, including
Words That Sell and The Cynic's Dictionary, and tons of junk mail. Bayan, who claims to be a "kinder, gentler cynic," lives with his wife in a 100-year-old former livery stable in Philadelphia. His weekly column, "Some Cynical Guy," is published and syndicated by Upbeat Online.
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