2005-04-01
WEBLOG SOJOURN
Seriously now... What I write about | I got a letter recently from someone complaining that my content is "...all over the place... | The reader said he couldn't tell what I was going to write about next, that this was disconcerting and that he thought that others might find it off-putting | He further cautioned he believed that I'd have trouble sustaining repeat readership because of this | Finally, he indicated that while he found some of the things interesting, I ought to limit my focus to one or two key areas ["...like, politics, for instance"] and write longer more thought about pieces |
Well, I just didn't know what to say | I'm hope he continues reading me, at least occasionally, but it seems he doesn't recognize the realities of the blogosphere |
I could be producing one of those things that endedlessly repeats, spamlike, key words about specific subjects, like "health care" or "Student Loans" | You know, the ones that have no profile or e-mail attached | I could be writing endless self-absorbed adolescent prattle about what CD's I just got or how boring history class was yesterday...or about my cats | But I don't |
I do listen and consider what people have to send to me | God knows, it happens rarely enough | But in this case I see little reason to change |
So, this is a brief explanation of what I write about, and why | The name Short Notes, comes from a column I wrote while working pre-press operations at a newspaper chain in the Adirondaks during the late 1970s | They were "short notes" becuase the column filled pretty much the amount of space we needed to complete the final pages of the paper |
The journal itself is an outgrowth of a personal journal I've been keeping since Christmas 1980 | It's always been quasi-public | Online, it's potentially more so | But since it's my own set of reflections, I write pretty much about what's in the front of my mind | As a weblog, I end up sharing that with others |
I'm not a linear thinker | My synaptic responses twist and tangent all over the place; rather like some of my conversations | I have a long-established interest in almost anything [well, I can't abide idle gossip, remain impatient with chatter shows and back-biting and quickly lose my interest in the drivel that passes off as news] so I'm apt to write about anything else |
I really don't want to waste anybody's time, so I try to limit what I post online to things that would inform; educate; spark thought; bring beauty into someone else's life; occasionally, to amuse and distract from the grind that is life the 21st century USA; and to direct folks to places where they can get more details | Simple as that |
Some of my pages are truly all over the place! | I try to stick to subject such as fit into the blurb at the top of this page, on my links list or in my opening statements | At the moment, I see no reason to change my format | In essence, compared to the handwritten journal, my subject matter is fairly disciplined |
I hope this clarifies what was asked |
Finally, it's a personal website for gosh sakes! What's on yours? |
Seriously now... What I write about | I got a letter recently from someone complaining that my content is "...all over the place... | The reader said he couldn't tell what I was going to write about next, that this was disconcerting and that he thought that others might find it off-putting | He further cautioned he believed that I'd have trouble sustaining repeat readership because of this | Finally, he indicated that while he found some of the things interesting, I ought to limit my focus to one or two key areas ["...like, politics, for instance"] and write longer more thought about pieces | Well, I just didn't know what to say | I'm hope he continues reading me, at least occasionally, but it seems he doesn't recognize the realities of the blogosphere |
I could be producing one of those things that endedlessly repeats, spamlike, key words about specific subjects, like "health care" or "Student Loans" | You know, the ones that have no profile or e-mail attached | I could be writing endless self-absorbed adolescent prattle about what CD's I just got or how boring history class was yesterday...or about my cats | But I don't |
I do listen and consider what people have to send to me | God knows, it happens rarely enough | But in this case I see little reason to change |
So, this is a brief explanation of what I write about, and why | The name Short Notes, comes from a column I wrote while working pre-press operations at a newspaper chain in the Adirondaks during the late 1970s | They were "short notes" becuase the column filled pretty much the amount of space we needed to complete the final pages of the paper |
The journal itself is an outgrowth of a personal journal I've been keeping since Christmas 1980 | It's always been quasi-public | Online, it's potentially more so | But since it's my own set of reflections, I write pretty much about what's in the front of my mind | As a weblog, I end up sharing that with others |
I'm not a linear thinker | My synaptic responses twist and tangent all over the place; rather like some of my conversations | I have a long-established interest in almost anything [well, I can't abide idle gossip, remain impatient with chatter shows and back-biting and quickly lose my interest in the drivel that passes off as news] so I'm apt to write about anything else |
I really don't want to waste anybody's time, so I try to limit what I post online to things that would inform; educate; spark thought; bring beauty into someone else's life; occasionally, to amuse and distract from the grind that is life the 21st century USA; and to direct folks to places where they can get more details | Simple as that |
Some of my pages are truly all over the place! | I try to stick to subject such as fit into the blurb at the top of this page, on my links list or in my opening statements | At the moment, I see no reason to change my format | In essence, compared to the handwritten journal, my subject matter is fairly disciplined |
I hope this clarifies what was asked |
Finally, it's a personal website for gosh sakes! What's on yours? |
RESPONSIBLE OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS ENCOURAGED | And, yep! That's me at the tender age of 12 out back of my grandfater's house one Easter Sunday in one of the few pix extant of me wearing a tie | You ought to have seen the hat!
¶ 10:53
