Several have made the point that my choices of topics and my type of observation is congenial to them, not because they are so all-fired better than anything else on the net, but because they share the same general approach and there is a level of trust I will bring you to places you like. I see the point of that. In a fragmented culture, why wouldn't a small group coalesce around a shared set of topics?
I had also forgotten that smallness (it was about 60 people a day, I'm sure that has dropped off now) can be a virtue. There are several blogs where the topics are fascinating, but the number of commenters so great that it feels like a town meeting instead of a gathering in one's home. Here, you not only get to know something of me, but I of thee, and all of you of each other. There is value in that itself.
So the two or three posts I have rolling around in my head I will complete, and we'll see what happens from there. I have some new thoughts on the power of narrative, more as it relates to general thought than to politics. New studies on suicidal people figure prominently in that. I am also exchanging emails with a college friend who I have long been out of touch with, who asked apropos of something else, why Unitarian Universalists seem to have little humor. That was right in my wheelhouse, and I will lightly edit and post my reply.
Oh, good! He's back, somewhat, maybe. The Christmas letter was great, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the "silent sixty" a day and you described it perfectly.
"like a gathering in one's home"
Charles near Houston
Clasher, top of my sidebar is son and frequent commenter Ben, north of Houston. You might like his site and films.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your perspective and thoughtfulness; you always leave me with some new perspective to ponder. I, for one, would welcome new material!
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about your site is your exploration of the transformation from Liberal to Post Liberal, and the retrospective look back at Liberals. I mean retrospective in that when you describe attributes of Liberals, such as assumptions of intellectual superiority or self-righteousness, you and I know that is so because we lived it in our liberal days.
ReplyDeleteAs a NE native long gone from there, I like reading about things from a NE perspective.
For my part, I think I like visiting here because there is a certain... call it a style... in your posts, independent of what you happen to be posting on. It's a little like the way one finds certain teachers and wants to take whatever they happen to be teaching this semester, even if it's Minor Tudor Nobility, or Approaches to the Flea in the Middle Ages.
ReplyDeleteYou're interesting, that's all it is.