This time the job I didn't get was at The New Republic , being a reporter-researcher, which is a kind of small step above intern, but paid a little with some benefits. Rats. The funny—or perhaps unsurprising—thing is that each rejection is a little less of a downer. I feel like I'm learning something from each one, honing my technique, and learning how this business actually works. I didn't think it would really be easy—though I have had some breaks already—but the big realization has been that all the big-time names I have been reading these last few years all got tremendously lucky. It's no coincidence that most of the big-time bloggers—Sullivan, Yglesias, Drum, Klein, Dave Roberts, etc.—all started blogging from about 2000-2003. There was a window there, and that window is now shut. But I ain't giving up, not by a long shot. Something Old Man Coates said in the video above really spoke to me (about 45:00), when he was telling his own story of coming up as