The name of the blog came to me after I wrote a piece for the local paper and after my husband read it, said, “I just don’t get it.”  After I recovered from my disappointment, I said, “Well, at least they’ll know that ‘Yes I Am Paying Attention.’”

I have been writing about public policy issues informally for many years, as kind of a hobby.  A few years ago, I decided to go back to school and get a masters in public policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus.   Getting the degree didn’t really help me discover how to turn my hobby into a profession/career until I realized I needed to do more of the thing that I had been doing informally all along–write.  Write about what I observe.

A brief contemplation of running for public office lead me to decide to attend Minnesota legislative committee meetings at the state capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota to observe my potential political opponent in action. What I discovered instead was a plethora of dysfunction, corruption, disrespect, and desperation. What I discovered was political theater–far more entertaining and surprising than any scripted play or movie could ever be.  Yet very few citizens are paying attention even though it is free entertainment–except for the cost of parking.

So I decided I would write about interesting bits of news shows, newspaper articles, letters to the editor, etc. that catch my attention and if I ran out of things to write about, I could always just go to St. Paul to get more material.  This blog is my attempt to demonstrate that YES, I AM PAYING ATTENTION.  Thank you for visiting.