The Nature of Blogging

I had a blog for a few years; very few people saw it, I don't think. It got very political and very personal, and it just wasn't very nice or productive. Several weeks ago, a student in one of my University of Phoenix Creative Writing classes asked if I had a blog, because she wanted to read more of my writing. I was ashamed of the blog I had, so I couldn't give her a link.

That experience got me thinking: Why not have a blog where I use my real name and talk about the things I'm passionate about (besides politics and personal issues)? I teach composition (and sometimes English Lit and Creative Writing) at Holmes Community College – Ridgeland, and I teach Creative Writing and Film along with a couple of other courses for the University of Phoenix Online. Even though I gave up the majority of my instruments to move into my new apartment, I still consider myself a musician (definitely a fan, if not "practicing"). And I write as often as I can given the fact that I have 3 jobs that take up a lot of my time. I really do have a lot to say, and I can be much more constructive than to complain about online dating sites (which I did a lot before I got a girlfriend, and thanks, that's going well) or "out" hateful people or talk about conservatives when I really couldn't care less what they do as long as they leave me alone.

So this is my experiment, and I'm going to post a link to this blog for my students in case they're curious; isn't that the thing to do these days? I will be more careful with my language to engage a broader audience, and I'll talk about things I know and think about regarding all the stuff I do. So we'll have some writing stuff and some film stuff and maybe even some stuff on ethics (I teach a "capstone" course for the UOP on ethics and critical thinking). Will I get political? Occasionally, I'm sure; somebody is bound to have said "Everything is political" (although I can't find a quote). I won't fall for the standard "left-right" politics, though. More sexual politics or personal politics or academic politics or office politics. My new favorite quote:

"How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" - Charles De Gaulle

I did find an interesting article by Stanley Fish in the Chronicle of Higher Education (which I'm going to start reading again) about the notion that "Everything is political":

http://chronicle.com/article/Is-Everything-Political-/45993

Stanley Fish is like Noam Chomsky to me; you don't have to agree with him, but you have to admit he's done his homework.

This is my "adult blog." I had to go through a few years of posting on and off and really bottoming out on what I had to say before I realized I have more responsibility than that. And I might just make somebody think, or respond and start a great dialogue. This, hopefully, will be the blog people will read.

And oh, the title? I didn't know what to call it, so I typed something random, thinking it would be taken. It wasn't, so I'm sticking with it. I'm not nearly that arrogant. I hope if you know me you already know that. J