Essential
Perhaps due to many suggestions that blogs are essential to a good career, I have found myself unable to write much of anything online. It’s a weird personal tic, I suppose—the moment that someone tells me that something is good for me I don’t want to do it anymore. Especially when it is filled with constraints:
But pick your topics carefully and have a purpose. ''The most interesting blogs are focused and have a certain attitude," says van Allen. ''You need to have a guiding philosophy that you stick to. You cannot one minute pontificate on large issues of the world and the next minute be like, 'My dog died.' "
In that spirit, I find it essential to itemize my day yesterday:
- Attended a committee meeting where I inadvertently committed to producing even more photographs than I had previously agreed to in the service of department publicity
- Taught a class in technical writing, and then ate a burrito
- Wandered along the Mississippi River in search of pictures, but they were hiding from me
- Arrived at a lecture hall on the other campus to see Salman Rushdie speak and spied something on the backside of the building worth investigating—there were a few pictures hiding there
- Laughed uproariously during the lecture, particularly at the mental image of Rushdie in red flare corduroy trousers with a purple shirt, long hair, and a Zappa moustache
- Favorite lines: “Democracy is not a tea party, it is an argument.” and “Realism is not a set of rules, it is a process.”
- Ate nachos and went to see two bands—liked the local trio, Gay Beast but wasn’t crazy about the visitors from Boston, Neptune
- Arrived home in time to see Dolly Parton doing “Me and Bobby McGee” on television
Leafy
Things are getting leafy
I’ve had more than a small case of spring fever. There are so many things to write out these days, but I can’t seem to sustain a thought. I keep thinking that I’ll try writing in smaller doses, but really I’m thinking in pictures. It’s kind of dangerous now, since I’m supposed to be in the word business.
