10 Million Words

Uh, oh. Looks like somebody wants to join A.J. Jacobs and Julie Powell in the Let's-do-something-outrageous-and-write-a-book-about-it Club. I mean, I don't actually know if he'll write a book about his experience, but it's the kind of thing Jacobs and Powell would admire. I just wonder, how will he find time to spend with his wife and kids?

America’s bestselling books tell us, I’m sure, who America is, who her people are, at this time and place. Surely they will give me a glimpse into the world’s most powerful, the world’s most fascinating nation.

So why am I doing it? That is a fair question and one that does not offend me in the least. There are a few answers. First, I love to read and this project gives me an opportunity to read a lot. That, as I see it, is a good thing. Second, it is a challenge and I like to face a good challenge. I expect this project to involve at least ten million words of reading–break that down and you’ll see that it comes to at least three books per week over the course of an entire year. Third, I am interested in the cultural and worldview implications of all of these books. They will provide, I’m sure, a snapshot of where America is at as she enters a new decade. And for me, as a Canadian who spends a fair amount of time wandering the United States and who has family living in the United States, this stands to be particularly interesting.

Good luck, Tim.

"We, Frenchies, are well-known for our flatulance."

Martha Stewart's dogs Francesca and Sharkey, both French bulldogs, are as much into blogging as she is. They began blogging on February 27, 2009, and have somehow found a photographer to keep up with their, ahem, adventures. I suppose you would lead a somewhat adventurous life if your were Martha's canine.

Four years old...

... this blog is. Here's my very first post. I may be posting more sporadically these days, but I don't want to give it up just yet.

Brownie beats Althouse

I always get a thrill when I blog about something before she does.

Sitemeter woes

I have a Dell computer. Because I have a Dell, I have Microsoft. Because I have Microsoft, I use Internet Explorer. Because I'm linked to Sitemeter through this blog, I haven't been able to access it (or any other blogs powered by Blogger) because Internet Explorer and Sitemeter have been having... problems. So, for the past few days, I haven't been able to blog.

Things seem to be better now. Criminy, Internet Explorer can suck at times.

"The Jamaican is- WAIT! She's not down!"

Shonda Rimes, creater of Grey's Anatomy (which I don't watch, BTW), is live-blogging The Bee.

don't cut, don't paste

I don't often agree with Ingrid Schlueter's assessment of things because she's so prone to write with overblown hyperbole, but I agree with her on this.

iMonk @ Asbury

Michael Spencer, known in Blogdom as Internet Monk, will be speaking on blogging tomorrow night at 7PM at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He'll be in the Royal Auditorium.

Wilmore is just a little drive from Lexington. If you live close and you can attend, you should be all means listen to him (Nephew Adam, I'm talking to you).

blogger beware

It seems everyone with a blog is linking to a certain article in The New York Times, "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop." NYT even claims that it's the most blogged-about article in the "technology" section of their site. Several known (though not to me) bloggers have died within the past months, and some have reported depression-like symptoms of sleeplessness and appetite problems. But do the symptoms - and deaths - of a few people point to a larger problem?

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

I really can't see how we can examine what happened to a few people and say with any degree of definitiveness, See? Blogging will be the death of you! What other lifestyle factors might have figured in to the deaths of Russell Shaw and Marc Orchant, the two mentioned in the article?What about other jobs that have "dangers of work style?" Go here to read about America's most dangerous professions.

There have certainly been studies that examined a link between suicide rates and specific types of employment, and there are some stastically signicant rates of suicide for white male physicians, black male guards, and white female artists. However, no study has been able to convincingly show that if someone takes a specific job, it's more likely that she will die.

It would certainly be difficult, though not impossible, to conduct a study on the prevalence of depressive symptoms for bloggers. The difficulty lies in the fact that bloggers, although they're usually white males, can come from all aspects of life. The study would have to specifically focus on those who blog as their primary profession or means of financial support. I'm sure we'll see something about this in a psychological research journal within the next few years.

3rd Blogoversary

Three years ago today, this little blog started with one post. Three years later, I still enjoy writing for it, and I still enjoy reading other blogs.

the dance of worship

Los, who has been on my blogroll for a while now, gets a link from Andrew Sullivan for this post.

accent beats hat

In the battle of the information blogs, it seems Arianna Huffington has beaten Matt Drudge.

According to data from Nielsen Online, for example, the Huffington Post’s traffic–as measured by monthly unique visitors in the U.S., at home and work–has more than tripled since February of 2007, when it had about 1.1 million unique visitors; by February of 2008, unique visitors had risen to 3.7 million. In that same month, the Drudge Report had 3.4 million (it had 2.75 million in February of 2007).

Arianna has a lot of help from guest bloggers who provide color commentary on the news. Drudge's site is just filled with links and no direct commentary. I'm sure this is happening because it's a presidential election year, so it will be interesting to see if it keep up this year and what happens in 2009.

2 blogs 2 check on 2sday morn

1 serious: Books by C.S. Lewis

1 silly: The Brothers Brick

lite blogging

Yeah, I haven't blogged the past couple days. There is a good reason for that, though, which is related to this.

Speaking of lite, feast your eyes on the worst restaurant dishes, food that would totally blow your New Year's diet... that is, if you haven't blown it already. (Guilty!)

2008 resolutions

Do you have any? My perennial resolution is to lose weight, but people who know me realize that it's a tough one. I've added a new one, though - I resolve to improve my writing skills. Not just here on the blog, but every time I write. I do a lot of writing in my work, more than what most people would think. I don't mean typing - I mean actual writing, with a pen and paper and everything. I also resolve to read more books than I did last year, but I don't know if I'll read this many.

If I'm truly going to improve my writing, I'll have to stay away from these words.

You're always gonna get it

Oh, be careful, little hands, what you type...

Young people often behave in foolish and uncritical ways, but it's even more foolish and uncritical to blog about it.

Millions of young people could damage their future careers with the details about themselves they post on social networking websites, a watchdog warns.

The Information Commissioner's Office found more than half of those asked made most of their information public.

Some 71% of 2,000 14 to 21-year-olds said they would not want colleges or employers to do a web search on them before they had removed some material.

The commission said the young needed to be aware of their electronic footprint.

It seems the electronic footprint can be more dangerous than the carbon footprint. The more details you give, the more likely someone will take advantage of you.

Let's be careful out there.

are you there? hello??

People. Of the last 26 posts, I've received only one comment. ONE. Now, I know there are people coming through here, because Sitemeters tells me that my little site is currently averaging 50 people a day. I have several family members and a friend in Raleigh who stop by faithfully, but they haven't left any comments and I'm beginning to worry about them.

Am I going to have to bring out Miss Snider, my second grade teacher, to deal with ya'll?

apparently, you must be smart cookie to read this blog

Get a Cash Advance

this is a moderate post

It balances the Left and the Right. Do we have anything out there like this for us moderates? Let me know if there is.

(HT: Joe Carter)