Categories
People Weblogging Writing

AKMA meets Ferret Face

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I wanted to point you to a Pixelview interview with AKMA that went online this week. I thought AKMA did a nice job with the interview questions.

I hesitated to link to the interview considering that it was conducted by my old friend, Head Lemur, a man who has been less than complimentary about me on two separate occasions. However, though the Head Lemur is a weak brained, bottom dwelling, ferret faced, dull witted amoeba, I decided to let bygones be bygones.

Now, AKMA, about those weblog postings on forgiveness…

Head Lemur responded. 

His previous responses to my writings here and here.

I stand by my initial description, twenty years later.

Categories
People Weblogging

Connecting

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I was surprised at the amount of in-person connectivity that occurs as a result of meeting people through the Internet. In comments attached to a previous posting, CommunitySharon mentions meeting her significant other online and Medley talks about meeting her husband through their mutual weblogs.

Kath states:

Something about meeting through the mind first rather than the normal route – meeting people face to face first – seems to make a stronger bond.

So much of what we are is communicated through our expressions, the looks in our eyes, the movement of our hands; stripping this away to letters on a screen and still being able to connect to people that strongly blows me away. I wonder how many webloggers have met their true love and closest friends online?

And if we don’t connect physically, will the friendships fade in time?

Categories
People Places Political

More on Anti-Semitism in Northern California

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

According to an email I received from the editor, later this afternoon, the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California will have another article related to the Peace Rally at SFSU. You can look for it at the publication’s web site.

In the meantime, the publication did just post an article about an English class being taught at UC Berkeley (SF Gate also published an article on this class). The class, “Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance”, generated a lot of controversy because the teacher, a pro-Palestinian graduate student stated in the course description:

“…This class takes as its starting point the right of Palestinians to fight for their own self-determination. Conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections.”

When I first read this description, I was appalled. That a University known for free thinking would have a class with this disclaimer attached.

Should the class be pulled? If it focuses on the use of writing and rhetoric as it relates to the Middle East, then I don’t believe it should be pulled. A writing class of this nature would not only be interesting, it would be thought provoking as well as useful. However, this applies only if the class looks at the impact of writing and rhetoric from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Unfortunately, as the class is titled and according to the political affiliation of the teacher, it promises to be pro-Palestinian biased, and that’s inappropriate considering the venue.

These issues are never black & white, or uncomplicated, are they?

Categories
People Weblogging

Dishma-what?

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I was catching up on all my weblog reading when I noticed the photos of dishwashing aids at Mr. Delacour’s home. At first, I didn’t think anything of it until I realized that the photos were taken by Jeff Cheney here in San Francisco. In fact, there’s a good chance I’ve passed these same little scrubbers in my own Safeway trips.

And then it hit me — not only is weblogging changing the way we write, it’s changing the way we behave.

Think about it. Jeff reads Jonathon’s posting on Dishmatiques, notices something similar at his local store, captures said images with a digital camera to forward to Jonathon. We as webloggers see nothing out of the ordinary in this.

However, to the average Man or Woman on the street, here is this guy with a camera standing in the middle of a Safeway store taking photos of scrubbing brushes. To them, this is not normal behavior. Not even in San Francisco.

Continuing this same theme: How many of us go out for a dinner, movie, walk, or trip and come rushing home at the end of the experience knocking kid and cat out of the way so that we can get to our computers and record the event?

Now confess, when you’re out and about in your “day life”, don’t you find yourself reacting to events throughout the day with thoughts about how you’re going to write about said event in your weblog?

How many of us own a weblogging related mug? How many of us have our own little Cafe Press stores featuring our own little *weblogging mugs?

Then there’s weblog speak, such as:

“Oh yeah? Well Dvorak’s your mother!”

“Wear that dress and you’ll get a lot of buzz.”

“Come on, baby. Link to me!”

I was talking to my ex-husband on the phone, jabbering on about this weblogger and that weblogger and dropping terms such as blogging, buzz, Daypop, and Google, when I realized that Rob had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

I was no longer speaking English.

One day people will be able to pick webloggers out in a crowd because we all share the burden of the Weblogger Mark — looking deep into the eyes of a friend or loved one while saying the deceptively simple words designed to lure them into the silken threads of the trap:

“You should get a weblog, you’ll really have fun.”

We’re a virus, and there’s no cure.

*BTW, anyone want a Burningbird weblogging mug?

Categories
People Photography

Photos: Rock art and coastal guard

I went down to my favorite beach for a walk and Bill Dan, the San Francisco rock artist was there, being interviewed by a journalist (sorry, didn’t catch the publication). I whipped out my camera and grabbed some photos of him and some of his work.

Bill Dan, Journalist, and some of Dan

Bill's shirt says Rock Art

Some admirers looking at the rocks