Tony Botello

“I will beat the SHIT out of you Charles!!!”

That’s the phrase I’ve been endlessly repeating for the past 3 months. I’ve taken the line from a 2007 classic web video clip “I’m the Juggernaut Bitch” which is sort of like my version of the I Ching but really is nothing more than a distant artifact given the ephemeral nature of the Internet.

And life in general.

In any event, denizens of Kansas City’s Internet scene might know me from the other blog where I waste the vast majority of my time: Tony’s Kansas City.

Feel free to imagine the worst possible things about me and then repeat them to other people as fact because that’s pretty much standard operating procedure for the Internets . . . In reality, I’ve engaged in community reporting for more than ten years at The Kansas City Hispanic News and then at Dos Mundos. I’ve also been “involved” in local politics and the Latino Community for quite some time as well . . . Which means that I bitch and complain about things A LOT. Therefore, taking this pastime to the web has been a perfect fit for me. I also have a background in technology and media courtesy of our lovely City College UMKC, where I earned a (useless) degree in Communications Studies.

I’ve decided to dedicate some of my blogging prowess to KCC mostly because Hearne is quite a cool guy who “could sell bubble gum in the lockjaw ward” at Truman Medical Center, to paraprhase one of my other favorite sayings. Still, I’ve been a fan of Hearne’s for awhile and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take part in one of the most interesting Internet ventures to happen upon Kansas City since dating sites made it even more obvious that people are disposable.

In any event, what I do on this blog is akin to a great deal of my Internet writing in general . . . I type mean-spirited things and justify my merciless snark with an attempt at humor. Only, on this blog Hearne actually makes me do a bit of fact checking. The benefit to me in all of this is not only one of those hard to find paid writing gigs but also through the magic of this blog’s “schmooze” I’ve actually been able to shake hands and smile at some of the people I’ve been insulting from the comfort of a basement dwelling for oh so many years. The begining of my journey with KC Confidential has been whirlwind of drinking, chatting, ass-grabbing older women and garnering more insight into the local social scene than I ever cared to attain. It’ll be intersting to see where it goes from here . . .