I am still interested in the question of why and how people choose to read a blog. I believe there is a something to be learned from the marketing world. I found several articles that appear inter sting. The first is on how incredibly fast most people make decisions as tho whether they will stop at a site, which is must be driven by the visual. There seems to be some debate about the actual time frame, but no matter what, it is very short. There is also a book , see review, on the issue and the focus appears to be visually based - color and clean lines. I thought this academic article was also interesting.

There is also this blog about the the visual being as important as the writer’s content.

I came, I saw, I blogged

I was building a PowerPoint for tomorrow's class and I came across this little gem about blogging while looking for new templates with which to wow my students. I thought it had some merit. It points to the community building aspects of blogs, their personal and professional natures, and the wide variations that makes blogs so difficult to define. The Crabby Office Lady is the column. By the way, poor Caesar must roll in his grave whenever his words are reused for our mundane purposes.

Thanksgiving, 2006 - the race

The wind was driving the heavy rain into my ear. My shoes were soaked and I shook my head like a dog to get rid of the drops of water hanging heavy on the bill of my hat. I was in the second mile of the Manchester Road Race, going up the hill with over ten thousand other runners. The woman next to me said to her running partner, “Well, this is one we’ll tell stories about” and she was right. There was pouring rain, a strong wind, and sheets of water slipping down the hill, and I was happy. Mo, Meg, Sam and I were running together while Cal held down the fort at home. Last year we missed the race because we went to Nancy’s in Virginia for Thanksgiving. Now, the chi was being brought back into balance – the god’s of the race knew we’d missed the snow last year and decided to reward us with cold, wind swept rain to make up for it.

Baka, Pop, Cathy and Art and their friend, John, came for Thanksgiving. Dave and Darsie cancelled at the last moment and Tom and Julie went to Long Island, so this year was smaller than usual, but it was great. It was such a relaxed day. Ironically, our dishwasher broke last night, but it made the day even better. We stood at the sink and washed dishes while others dried. We talked and laughed and called to wash instead of dry– just like the old days. I told Cal how I used to wash dishes with my grandfather and how I always remember him telling me that you had to use water so hot it would scald you if you kept you hand in it. For a brief moment, he was with me again – I was him passing on the same lesson. I guess that is what holidays are for – to remember and create memories.

The race got the day off to a perfect start. This was the first year we’d all ran together. Meg talked about how they used to come and watch me race, and no matter how carefully they looked they never saw me. If we can get Cal to run, it will be even more fun. It was a good race –Meg and I finished together, holding hands as we crossed the finish line. Sam was an easy five minutes ahead of us. I saw Mo about 100 yards ahead of us and told Meg we should speed up and catch her at the finish line. She said she didn’t have it in her to speed up and that I should go ahead. I said no - I would finish with her. Some things are small gifts God gives us and finishing with Meg was my gift for today. Carpe diem. Next year, next year we’ll catch up together and finish win together.

Blogging and the person

I have been thinking about why I blog - especially since I felt challenged last class. It was interesting to have one's blog analyzed while you sat there. I think the issue was my statement that I am not interested in writing my blog for an audience, that it would evolve into a record for me - and those who have begun to read this site. I stand by that statement despite the obvious fact that I am careful about what I write. I think I have found the answer in the article that Colin posted about blogs. While I write for myself, I am very much aware, especially during this time while in class, that others will be reading the blog (the article talked about blogs existing between private and public space). I also find that people in class, and at least one person outside of class, respond more positively to my personal posts than class related posts, so I am even more aware of their style and content. I guess what I was trying to say was that I don’t see myself trying to create an audience for this blog, and, therefore, shaping it for that audience. I am writing for myself, but recognizing that someone might drop in my ego requires some style and care.

I also think the blog represents my personality, which tends to be careful and formal, and that, by the way, is what interests me about the visuals of blogs. I changed my blog when Aldon commented on it and I saw it through someone else's eyes. It was boring and did not represent me. I realized that I needed to change the code and reflect my love of art, words, and living in a pleasant, colorful place. The blog is my cyber home and I wanted it to reflect me.

I think we are attracted to blogs in the way we are attracted to people, albeit in a superficial way). We instinctively search for visual clues that subliminally inform us if we have something in common with this person and should stay and connect. Visuals tell us about the person and either attracts us or not. The same thing happens with blogs – we look and are either interested or not. My question is what are those visuals and do we consciously or unconsciously build them into our blogs.

Information and me

I gave a presentation to my colleagues about my teacher blog. As a result, there are now two more blogs in the world. It was really cool when they came up to me to show me their blogs, as if I really knew what I was doing. Both are much younger than me and I took absurd pleasure in being able to introduce them to new technology. On the internet age is not an issue. One is an intern who is a UCONN masters student and she talked about how this would be able to help her communicate to her teacher. I really appreciate all that everyone of you have taught me. This technology has really helped me open up new avenues of expression and information gathering and communication.

Lift the veil.

I don’t know why, but the fact that bloggers and other net based sites are built on made up names and anonymity bothers me. I fully understand that there are times and situations when anonymity is critical and needed. However, it seems that in most of the blog world it really isn’t necessary. It seems a way to back away from reality rather than confronting or embracing it. What does it say about a person who creates multiple personalities to communicate with the world, or to play a site like Wikipedia for your own ego building purposes?

I love blogging and have actively encouraged others to start blogging. It is a great way to speak when you are alone. I heard Colin say the other day on his show how he sometimes speaks to himself out loud in public and how cell phones are a help since it appears everyone is speaking to themselves. I’m not an only child but I can relate. I use the blog, as I am now, to express my thoughts. Many times I find that I argue with myself as I write and the act of committing thoughts to type helps mold them more efficiently. If I am not me when I blog, then I don’t think I can be as truthful. I know that sounds odd. If I have the veil of anonymity, I think I would not be as thoughtful – I would speak without thinking and that is not me. I suspect that a lot of negativity and ‘flaming’ is a result of people being able to hide behind the fake persona, and it is this aspect of blogs I detest.

Homework - connected at last.

First, I liked everyone and appreciated their sincerity and true interest in people and trying to do what was right. I would say I related most to genghis conn, the librarian. I felt he was a thoughtful person who was straight forward and honest; a person who was unafraid to voice an opinion or opposition but thought before he spoke. I believe he is truthful when he states that he is trying to create a forum for discussion and information. The nature of his work lends itself to such a goal. As I said before we met them all, I really liked Connecticut Local Politics. In fact, just last night I referred my neighbors to the site as a source of reasonably objective information and insight. The issue had to do with who voted for Lieberman and the role of independent voters in the election. Little did I know it would be a topic of today’s entry?

The article in today’s Courant only reinforces my opinion about him. I can relate to his information driven style and the way he weaves it into a story. The interesting stuff is, many times, in the small details of history. I’m a history buff and always am struck but how such huge events turn on some small detail – a captured missive, animosity between two people, illness, egos. I have to wonder, though, would Chris have been able to achieve his current status without blogging. I would so not. I think he is a creature of this media and his knowledge had given him a unique edge, which, by the way, benefits all of us since we need people like him and his colleagues to open new doors to old rooms.

Technology open door

Here's technology for you. I've had trouble connecting all week. Why, you ask? It's because of my family cat. You see, in order to keep the cat out of my space, I act real nice an lure her to the basement to feed her and then shut the door to the basement so she doesn't bother me. It just so happens my router is in the basement, a remnant of my old office being there. I just discovered that if I keep the door open I get an excellent signal. If I close it, I can't get much of a signal.

Cat - 1, Jim - 0

How we relate to technology is really absurd at times. Many of us are unsure how to deal with it and then you go to your tech guy at work and tell him the printer is broken and you've done all the book tells you to do in the trouble shooting section. He tells you to turn it off, count to 15 (hard for us English teachers) and turn it back on. It works. Now I realize all my connectivity issues are related to something as simple as a closed door. Meow.

Connecting to Information - Canto II

I have always been in an information gathering and sharing position. In banking, I was in sales and management. I was successful because I could take complicated financial concepts and communicate them out to a broad audience – the aged widow and the hostile board or investment committee – with equal success. I loved the trust and investment business because it never stopped changing, and being a source of information and communication was an important position. There are a myrid of reasons I choose to leave banking and go into teaching. The basic reason is I wanted to do something good, something that was not simply about making money and focusing on everyone elses idea of success. However, I also always thought it would be fun to teach. That fun involved learning new things and then turning around and giving that knowledge to a group of young people. What I never quite realized is that my audience might not be interested learners, but more like the hostile client who doesn't want to listen to you. It interests me that my sales and management experience are as important to my teaching survival as my academic knowledge. When I think about it, my career choices, success, and happiness have been directly related to my love of learning new information and my desire to share it.

Connecting to information - Canto I

My relationship with information is that I am a hunter and a feeder. Like my friend, lednik, I listen to books in my car, hundreds of books of all types. It drives my wife and kids crazy. They love to listen to music, but if don't have a book, I’d just as soon ride in silence with my mind free to roam over a myriad of thoughts rather than listen to music (I also enjoy talk radio – if it I learn things). My daughter, who I love more than life itself, will rage at me for wanting to drive in silence. Generally, I lean towards books I would not ordinarily read. For example, I just listened to a Gould book on statistics and evolution – even for me that was an exception. It took me weeks to get through it, but it was worth it because now I have some understanding of why .400 hitting no longer exists in baseball and how statistics are manipulated in politics, medicine and, my other passion, investing. I just love to learn new things, which is why at the age of 49 I’m slogging to classes at Trinity and not being able to sleep class nights thinking about all that we discussed.

When I listen to novel, which is often, I listen to historical novels. They entertain and I learn about new eras with minimal effort. My favorite series is the Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian. I’ve listen to them and read them several times and will do so again, with the blessing. Ironically, the main characters live for music and could never understand my lack of passion for music.



Part of the thrill in hunting is connecting information and finding something new. I believe in understanding the historical, social and personal aspects of literature and writing. I can relate to the Formalist idea of viewing the work as a piece of art detached from the world, with specific intrinsic qualities, but I can’t see any work operating in a vacuum.

Blogging has interested me for two reasons: it allows access to new, broad, unique sources of information; and it creates a space to explore information and to express my thoughts about the information. I now have two blogs and plan on creating another in a few months. This blog is for class, but it’s also to document my thoughts and feelings. My second blog is to document my class, to connect the text to other ideas, and to explore or express my interpretation of the text. The blogs help my feeder instinct.

Election overload

I like how spazeboy let blogs speak for themselves. I thought this was helpful, informative, and true to the early ideas of blogging.

MyDD was also informative; however, it was depressing to see that Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the 2008 nomination. I just don’t think that she will bring people together. There is so much baggage and animosity – too many questions concerning ambition and decisions to ignore marital infidelity. What else will be ignored to gain the brass ring?

It was great to see Colin’s article linked by Matt Stoller. The article is a cross between 1984 and the Animal Farm. Napoleon and the dogs will be teaching us from now on. The Lamont bloggers are arriving only to be rounded up and sent to the glue factory. Actually, after reading the Lamont related blogs, the victorious rout and revenge would not have been much different if Ned had won – Snowball, Napoleon…Trotsky, Lenin...Ned, Joe…hmmm.

I never was a Pelosi fan; in fact, I was scared at the thought of her as Speaker (yes, I have listened to Rush this last week). However, after seeing her at work and reading about her on Daily Kos and MyDD, I feel better. I am pleased to see her support of John Mutha – talk about odd couples. I saw a piece with the Salon editor in which she pointed out how Pelosi is not your typical San Francisco liberal – she will surprise people. She look tough and could take the cream puff Rush out in the first round if given a fair fight – fat chance (pun intended). As an aside, I still find MyDD and Kos hard to grapple with – too much and too crowded.

I love connecticutlocalpolitics. It’s informative and easy to use, and it linked Colin. As I have been reading these sites, my hope for Lieberman moderating his views are evaporating. It started with his speech, then his press conference, and now the I/D after his name – someone has to kick the pedestal. He’ll be starting his Presidential bid before we know it.

This exercise has been helpful in that taking the time to look at multiple blogs allows you to see patterns of information emerging. This can’t happen when you view limited numbers of medium. One does have to be careful – I think it is equally important to see what the other side is saying, and to read and listen to them. I get a lot when I listen to Rusk or Sean (or my father). The blogs, coupled with traditional media, give us a range of information upon which to dwell and then act.

Lamont Blog

LamontBlog represents all that interesting and disheartening about blogs, and it’s been a trip the past few days. First, I did vote for Lamont, and some might say I threw away my vote, but I’ve been doing that since I voted for John Anderson way back when. We need people like Lamont to step up, take the hits, the verbal slings and arrows, to bring attention to problems with the status quo. I do think his candidacy forced Sen. Lieberman to re-examine his position and, perhaps, he will evolve and change. He is too savvy a politician not too, and I hope his savvy will lead him away from the war. However, I am concerned after hearing Lieberman’s speech after the election, when he said he was beholden to no one but the Connecticut voters, it sounded as if “the CT voter” was an afterthought.

I was surprised at the animosity in LamontBlog – it did not mirror the wonderful speech Lamont gave in conceding the race. His speech was about building for the future and getting things done. The blog appeared to be about tearing down. The proverbial hatchet needs to be buried so the country can move forward and resolve this war. I’m less concerned about Lieberman having an I or D following his name, as long as he votes with the Ds on the most important issues. I’m not saying that the Party should forget, but politics does breed strange bedfellows, and the more bedfellows in a vote the better.

Finally, the comment threads got depressing. M. Palmer sounded threatening – like Jason, and energyanalyst seemed more interested in insulting than conversing. If he/she is so anti-Lamont, why take the time to bait and criticize – it’s a waste of energy and reveals more about the damaged ego than the topic.

Dante on the mind

I am living with Dante, again, and the Inferno burns as icy hot as ever. As with many of the texts I teach, I have become consumed with its themes and ideas. Dante is so difficult since it roils the very core of our existence. He forces us to think in terms of good and evil and to confront the magnificent fact of a God who gives us the opportunity to choose between the two. We are not compelled but given the ability to think, to rationalize, and to choose – how frightening. It would be so much easier to be told what to do, to be directed – but He does not do that. He somehow trusts us. Dante tells us God’s love is unconditional and all we have to do is choose to accept love, but then he shows us all the other choices, the seemingly easy ones that prevent us from choosing true love. Dante is so relevant because he shows us the basis of so much misfortune and grief - selfishness and pride. I like teaching Dante right after the Odyssey and Confucius since they, especially Homer, focus on the same theme. Odysseus goes to Hades to wash off the pride of the hero of kleos, and to find nostos, the hero of homecoming – the placement of family on home over self. We find heaven when we lose ourselves and see only others we love.

I happen to catch part of the Today Show on Veterans Day and there was a segment on the Jewish concept of the afterlife, of heaven and hell. I found it very comforting – the idea so similar to my own beliefs, and somewhat Dante’s. There was one big difference, and I have to find out more. It is a key difference that seems so in line with Christ’s teachings; it is also something that would address many of my student’s concerns. One of the rabbis stated that hell to Judaism is more of stopping off place to heaven. (He also described this world as a porch to the heaven – an image I love.) It seemed more like my Catholic sense of purgatory. It fit with the idea of God’s unconditional love. Many of my students ask why such a short period of time on earth, one filled with so much inequality, should determine one’s eternity. This concept of being always able to choose love, even in hell, is an interesting twist– an idea that Dante might have evolved to if his own life weren’t so unhappy. While I love Dante’s work, I find him a difficult person – someone who could not find the forgiveness he so eloquently explained was always freely offered to us by God.

I may rue the day I wrote this...

I will miss class tomorrow so I thought I'd blog about my political decision making and the information I access. I think of myself as a relatively informed voter, but I find that my decisions tend to be more emotional than I'd like to admit. I read a lot but I'm like most voters in that I tend to believe those articles and blogs that reinforce my views. My reading is mostly newspapers, web sites, and, now, blogs. It's seldom that something changes my mind unless I'm really on the fence. One thing that recently informed my thought process was a reawakening to the way in which Congress works and the great importance of who is in power (a Washington friend who is a lobbiest was depressing mw with the details). So, I may like a Republican, but if I want a foil to the Executive, I need to think in terms of voting for a candidate of the party who opposes the Executive. I see why many have turned on Lieberman, who I would normally support (I only did not vote for him when he ran against Weicker). However, I am so opposed to the war, that I will not vote for him. I find I'm voting against candidates rather than for candidates, which is why, I suspect, that negative ads are so effective. I happen to like Lamont and have been impressed with his views, the people who work for him, and his campaign. I will vote against Jodi Rell. I cannot see how she is not tainted with the Rowland scandal, especially after the debacle involving her son - a perfect example of abuse of power, or the perceived abuse of power. I'm disappointed that there is not a stronger alternative. I will vote for Joe Courtney and against Rob Simmons. Simmons is a war supporter and I've never voted for him before. I will also vote for Bob Farr (whose blog is terrible) since I do think we have lost focus on local CT legal concerns in pursuit of publicity driven suits. Interestingly, I will vote for Cathy Cook since she was so impressive on Colin's show and it appears that the Comptroller's office has not been on task. So here is my voting philosophy and I'm not proud of it - throw da bums out.

A new site from some of my students.