How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone. Leave it to Bob Dylan to put things in perspective.

The Rocky Mountain News died today. As a news junky and someone who works with journalists everyday, it's hard not to take this personally. I expect the hurt to linger, like the emptiness people from Brooklyn must've felt when the Dodgers left town.

Nothing against the Denver Post. It's a great paper with a talented staff. There's just something about being a two paper town that Denver has lost. No more newspaper wars. No more reporters fighting over scoops and exclusives. No more two papers with two voices and two newsrooms motivating each other to earn the bragging rights that comes with being the very best in town.

Two paper towns are cosmopolitan and sophisticated. The people who live there are urban, intellectual, independent thinkers who can decide for themselves which paper they want to read. Some people even read both papers just to feel extra special. Or extra informed.

That's gone now and Denver is less of a city because of it. Maybe we will recover quickly. Maybe we will adjust and move on. Maybe we are so overwhelmed by all the job losses that we don't have room to care anymore about people losing their jobs.

Like everything else (except for Brooklyn Dodgers fans), in time this pain will pass. The news business is changing faster than we can imagine, and everyday we are creating new ways to communicate and inform people about the important issues that they care about. It is up to us to decide what kind of city we want Denver to be and what kind of culture we want to nourish.

But I have a feeling that the sense of loss and mourning that I feel today will stick with me for a while. How does it feel? Like a complete unknown. Like a rolling stone.