A Peacock Moment

Well, I'm puffed out a bit with pride today as Ronni Bennett has added one of my stories to her terrific new blog, The Elder Storytelling Place.

It's actually a post from by blog written back in the spring of '03, when I had just returned from meeting super-blogger Denise Howell for the first time. Ronni and I were exchanging emails in which one of the topics was about how forging blogging connections provided an effective tonic for the loneliness of retirement--or isolation in general, for that matter.

As an illustration of the positive experience of meeting someone whose blogging you admired, and with whom you had struck on online connection, I pointed Ronni to that old post. Ronni said it would make a good addition to the series of stories she's been posting, so here we are.

Thanks again, Ronni, for putting this new site together. You're a trooper!

Anniversary Archives - - May 29, 2002

Having just posted about Elaine's possible departure from the blogosphere, it's serendipitous that what popped up in my archives for today's date was a pointer to Frank Paynter's interview of Elaine--one of the first in his wonderful series of exchanges from that period with bloggers of note.

The Interviews link on Frank's blog unfortunately shows only a handful of these. They're gems. I wonder why he never put up the complete list? (Disclaimer: it's a selfish wish on my part since I have the honor of being one of the interviewees).

Anyway, here's the link again to Frank's interview of Elaine. Highly recommended.

Another Exodus?

I just caught Elaine's post of a couple of days ago announcing the possibility that her blog may be coming to an end. This will be a great loss if it happens. But I, of all people, certainly understand it.

I've been quitting, then coming back , tentatively, for the past couple of years. Some of us grow weary of looking for things to write about. It stops being fun, so we decide to drop out. If you're a blogger who blogs because you have an inner need to write, as Elaine most certainly does, you discover a big empty hole in your life when you stop writing.

Your inner demons begin driving you back to the keyboard. If Elaine, leaves, I wouldn't be surprised to see her back in due course.

Of course, there's always pen and paper, or that artifact of the past, the typewriter. But how can you top the medium of the Internet? The brilliant invention of the web log, its simplicity and ego-satisfaction of instant publishing are irresistible lures.

There is another problem, however, and Elaine's announcement--or rather, its aftermath--highlights it. The old community spirit isn't what it used to be. Blogging seems to have become a more isolated activity. This is highly ironic given the rise of the so-called "social web," or Web 2.0, or whatever in the hell you want to call it.

Yes, there's more connectability, but the connections seem to be more superfluous.

Time was when an announcement like this from Elaine would have generated a flurry of comments, postings, pleadings, protestations, and hand-wringing statements of concern. Now, barely a ripple. It's amazing to me, considering someone of Elaine's quality of writing and longevity in the blogosphere.

Well, whatever Elaine decides to do, I'm sure that I'm not alone in treasuring what she's given us. And, of course, our hearts are with her as she continues her amazing efforts to care for her mother.

Commencin' and Tripppin'

OK. I’m returned from a short jaunt back to the Midwest to attend the graduation of my niece from the University of Illinois—and to get in some family schmoozing time.

Commencement addresses are usually rather boring affairs, but this one had something different--a guy under 30 giving the address. How does a lad of 28 land such an honor? By being a co-developer of PayPal and co-founder of YouTube, and having a billion bucks or so, some of which you can bet has the University scheming for future endowments.

Which is to take nothing away from the accomplishments of Illinois alum, Jawed Karim, who received the outstanding achievement award for alumni under 40. (no duh!) and was invited to give the address. It was a pleasant surprise, and Karim, to his credit, gave a fairly good speech.

Christine Hurt, a U of I Law Prof, provides this account, saving me the trouble:

Karim's speech was great. It was short, it was funny, and it had video clips. He advised students to always be open to opportunity and to take risks while you can (like leaving college while still young to try something brand new). He apologized for ruining their gpa's by inventing YouTube! He was self-deprecating when reminding students that things don't work right away. In 1997, Karim's application to the University of Illinois' computer science department was rejected. He wrote a letter asking them to reconsider, which they did. (I would like to see a copy of this letter. I've seen letters from law school candidates asking for their admissions decisions to be reconsidered, and they generally only confirm initial judgments!) He also talked about how lame YouTube was in the beginning until users started uploading their own videos -- a concept that the founders had not envisioned.

The funniest line of the speech came when Karim explained that YouTube was launched on February 14, 2005. I am paraphrasing, but he said something akin to: 'One of the best things about being a computer science major is that Valentine's Day is just like any other day.'

(Thanks to Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog for the pointer. Kevin's lengthy blogroll, btw, has Denise Howell way down near the bottom. Hey, Kev, she practically started the whole law blog thing. Doesn't she belong at the top?)

I started reading David Weinberger's latest book, "Everything is Miscellaneous," on the trip. As you might imagine, very insightful, provocative, original, and humorous--the usual Weinbergian cocktail. I doubt that I'll put up a review. It's a bit out of my league, which is not to say it's dense--not at all. It's just that my ventures into the art of criticism have not gone beyond the realm of popular culture (I've made a few contributions to BlogCritics Magazine). I'm probably wise to leave it that way--although maybe I could submit something along the lines of "Why 'Everything Is Miscellaneous' Matters to Average Joe." But does anyone care?

Anyway, getting my butt out to the Weinberger book signing and informal talk was a shot in the arm. I wish my ol' bloggin' buddy Frank could have been there. He would have loved it. (Speaking of Paynter the Prolific, do catch his current post with the early Grateful Dead video).

Thanks to Ronni Bennet for chiming in with a supportive comment. And thanks also to Jeneane for the encouragement. Good to hear from both of you guys!