Just wanted to say that I've added some more poems as well as some personal essays to my other blog, Sand Dreaming of Stars. I'm relatively pleased with them.
So anyone who reads this site should also check that one out. One Hand Clapping will still have the political asides, reviews, and comments on my writing efforts.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Merlin, Forum, Bloggus Spherus
Remember that Jorge Luis Borges short story, "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Terius?" It describes how the history and culture of another world slowly infiltrates itself our own via a set of mysterious entries in a particular edition of the Anglo-American Cyclopedia. (For more details, follow the link.)
I love the story. It's eerie, the idea of something subtly alien sneaking into the environment.
I had a similar experience today reading this post in my friend Aaron's blog. It references a person I've never heard of (Merlin Mann), who is apparently somewhat famous for writing fiction and a blog I've never read, being slammed by another anonymous person on a forum I don't read, defended by someone who worked writing columns I never heard of for another venue I don't use, only to have Mann himself post a rejoinder (which I had to read twice to follow) that I think he wrote, only to mock himself a bit in the process.
It was remarkably self-referential set of comments referring to a world that seems to exist parallel to the one I live in. I don't even know how someone would learn about the dispute. It was all very surreal.
I love the story. It's eerie, the idea of something subtly alien sneaking into the environment.
I had a similar experience today reading this post in my friend Aaron's blog. It references a person I've never heard of (Merlin Mann), who is apparently somewhat famous for writing fiction and a blog I've never read, being slammed by another anonymous person on a forum I don't read, defended by someone who worked writing columns I never heard of for another venue I don't use, only to have Mann himself post a rejoinder (which I had to read twice to follow) that I think he wrote, only to mock himself a bit in the process.
It was remarkably self-referential set of comments referring to a world that seems to exist parallel to the one I live in. I don't even know how someone would learn about the dispute. It was all very surreal.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Deciding Whether to Continue the Blog
So, I'm debating whether keeping up with the blogging is worth the time and energy I sporadically invest in it.
In terms of keeping in touch with friends and family, it would probably be more efficient for me to put a profile on something like Facebook.
In terms of reviewing books and such, I'm not sure that the reviews help other people and I'm not entirely clear on what I get out of them. At times it feels like a burden, as though I have to review something I've read if I thought it was particularly good or bad or if it just left me confused.
Writing about my own writing has been somewhat helpful for me. But I think that having a space dedicated solely to that might be more productive than the mishmash I have now. And I'd like to publish some material before going much further down that route.
That leaves the occasional commentary on current events, which certainly gets lost in the big Internet blur.
Perhaps one option is to separate this blog into a few different "channels"--one for reviews and one for posting or discussing my own writing, and then a Facebook page for minor social updates and connections.
In terms of keeping in touch with friends and family, it would probably be more efficient for me to put a profile on something like Facebook.
In terms of reviewing books and such, I'm not sure that the reviews help other people and I'm not entirely clear on what I get out of them. At times it feels like a burden, as though I have to review something I've read if I thought it was particularly good or bad or if it just left me confused.
Writing about my own writing has been somewhat helpful for me. But I think that having a space dedicated solely to that might be more productive than the mishmash I have now. And I'd like to publish some material before going much further down that route.
That leaves the occasional commentary on current events, which certainly gets lost in the big Internet blur.
Perhaps one option is to separate this blog into a few different "channels"--one for reviews and one for posting or discussing my own writing, and then a Facebook page for minor social updates and connections.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Blogging Milestone
So, I was glancing at the sidebar and realized that I hit 172 posts (now 173). Which means that in 2009 I have officially surpassed my blogging totals from the previous two years [17 posts] by a factor of ten.
I leave it to the blogosphere and the Internet in general to determine is that is a Good Thing or not.
I leave it to the blogosphere and the Internet in general to determine is that is a Good Thing or not.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
You Didn't Know It, But We Were Having a Race, and I Won
This is the sort of thing my kids say to each other, more or less, all the time. They are constantly staging races with each other over the silliest things.
Well, I am also susceptible to such foolishness. At the start of this month, I set myself the goal of posting more blog entries for the month of September than my friend Aaron (at Anecdotal Evidence). Aaron usually demolishes me with his profligacy. I did set myself a rule that the posts had to be legitimate by my own standards--that is, no less significant than anything else I have normally been posting about.
Of course, I didn't tell him about the contest, or he would have crushed me.
Victory is mine! (Of course, if Aaron attempts and succeeds at any similar blogging competition in the future, he will have stolen the idea from me.)
Well, I am also susceptible to such foolishness. At the start of this month, I set myself the goal of posting more blog entries for the month of September than my friend Aaron (at Anecdotal Evidence). Aaron usually demolishes me with his profligacy. I did set myself a rule that the posts had to be legitimate by my own standards--that is, no less significant than anything else I have normally been posting about.
Of course, I didn't tell him about the contest, or he would have crushed me.
Victory is mine! (Of course, if Aaron attempts and succeeds at any similar blogging competition in the future, he will have stolen the idea from me.)
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Tortoise and the Hare, Blog-Style
I was looking at my posting numbers so far this year and I was feeling pretty good. I wanted to try to average 10 posts a month and crack 100 for the year. I'm doing a little better than that overall thanks to having no work in February, but more significantly I've now hit double-digit posts for four consecutive months, which is good. And I seem to be setting up a pattern of sorts for the things I blog about, with more reviews sneaking their way in as was my original intent.
Not sure why I care about this, but I think it falls into the general category of practicing my writing and trying to set and meet writing-related goals.
Anyway, I popped over to my friend Aaron's blog, Anecdotal Evidence, only to see that he has 248 posts (and counting) this year. Or close to triple my output.
I was dazed and awed. Then I thought: if we compare word count for our blog posts for the year, it's probably pretty even. I might even be ahead.
Not that I'm competitive or anything.
Not sure why I care about this, but I think it falls into the general category of practicing my writing and trying to set and meet writing-related goals.
Anyway, I popped over to my friend Aaron's blog, Anecdotal Evidence, only to see that he has 248 posts (and counting) this year. Or close to triple my output.
I was dazed and awed. Then I thought: if we compare word count for our blog posts for the year, it's probably pretty even. I might even be ahead.
Not that I'm competitive or anything.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Hide Your Goals
In this post, my friend Aaron links to another blog that basically argues that telling people your goals typically leads to positive affirmation. Sounds good, right? I mean, one of the recurring fears that people express about trying to make big life changes (new career, body transformation, relationship changes, creative pursuits) is that they'll get mocked or criticized for their plans.
But it turns out that this positive affirmation for something you haven't actually accomplished gives you a false sense of satisfaction, as though you have already achieved the goal you shared. When in fact you are just stating your desire and intent to pursue and achieve that goal.
The ironic result is that the encouragement and support of others for your stated goal ends up undermining your efforts to reach that goal. You start acting and thinking as if you had already accomplished the goal you set for yourself. This takes away from your focus and drive. So you are less likely to achieve the goals that you share with people.
A few thoughts.
First, I wonder if these results hold true for goals revealed at different stages of the process. For example, telling people that I got a gym membership and I'm going to be working out three days a week and lose weight right after I get the membership is probably a bad idea. Whereas telling people halfway through the process of reaching that weight loss goal seems a little less likely to derail me, as I've already established some of the work habits needed.
To me the key seems to be establishing and ingraining the habits needed to achieve the goal before you start telling everyone about it. Because by that point you've got a bit of mental fortitude built up to help you resist the urge to pat yourself on the back too much if you get positive reactions from people. And everyone needs some positive feedback at some point.
Second, I wonder how this jibes with the idea I've read in various texts on modern magical thought that acting and believing "as if" a goal has already been achieved is a key to attuning yourself to receive whatever positive potential related to your goal is out there in the world. Maybe the key difference is between being active and passive. Or there could just be a strong disconnect between these two types of thinking about the world.
Third, I wonder how this process relates to the idea of giving yourself daily, positive self-affirmations when working toward your goal. In other words, does giving yourself positive reinforcement also undermine your likelihood of achieving a stated goal, or does the negative impact occur only when you share your goals with other people? I'd be curious to see a study evaluating this aspect of the hypothesis, because positive self-affirmations and visualizations have been shown to have a positive effect on actual, real-world performance. So perhaps only the social aspect of praise--the role played by others in developing our self-image--has the potential to derail our pursuit of our goals.
From my personal experience, I suspect that the broad claim about not sharing your goals with others in order to be more productive about reaching those goals is true. It never pays to tell people what I'm writing about or planning to write about. I never get as good a reaction when I tell someone what I want to write as I do when I actually show them what I have written. It's just too hard to explain an outline or story out loud and I always feel a little embarrassed.
Someone whose name I've forgotten noted in a guide to writing that one should "Tell everyone that you are writing. Tell nobody what you are writing until it is done." If you allow for sharing manuscripts with people for review during the process, which has been very valuable for me, I think this advice is solid.
This is another reason, I think, to break goals down into specific, manageable chunks, because then it takes less time to achieve them, at which point you can tell somebody until you get some positive feedback and encouragement and then set out upon your next goal with some renewed energy and sense of accomplishment. And you don't tell anyone any specifics about that goal until you've reached it.
For writing and physical health, some manageable goals that I've attempted with some success are:
That's also why it's hard to focus on too many goals in life--you can only accommodate so many aspects into a consistent lifestyle.
But it turns out that this positive affirmation for something you haven't actually accomplished gives you a false sense of satisfaction, as though you have already achieved the goal you shared. When in fact you are just stating your desire and intent to pursue and achieve that goal.
The ironic result is that the encouragement and support of others for your stated goal ends up undermining your efforts to reach that goal. You start acting and thinking as if you had already accomplished the goal you set for yourself. This takes away from your focus and drive. So you are less likely to achieve the goals that you share with people.
A few thoughts.
First, I wonder if these results hold true for goals revealed at different stages of the process. For example, telling people that I got a gym membership and I'm going to be working out three days a week and lose weight right after I get the membership is probably a bad idea. Whereas telling people halfway through the process of reaching that weight loss goal seems a little less likely to derail me, as I've already established some of the work habits needed.
To me the key seems to be establishing and ingraining the habits needed to achieve the goal before you start telling everyone about it. Because by that point you've got a bit of mental fortitude built up to help you resist the urge to pat yourself on the back too much if you get positive reactions from people. And everyone needs some positive feedback at some point.
Second, I wonder how this jibes with the idea I've read in various texts on modern magical thought that acting and believing "as if" a goal has already been achieved is a key to attuning yourself to receive whatever positive potential related to your goal is out there in the world. Maybe the key difference is between being active and passive. Or there could just be a strong disconnect between these two types of thinking about the world.
Third, I wonder how this process relates to the idea of giving yourself daily, positive self-affirmations when working toward your goal. In other words, does giving yourself positive reinforcement also undermine your likelihood of achieving a stated goal, or does the negative impact occur only when you share your goals with other people? I'd be curious to see a study evaluating this aspect of the hypothesis, because positive self-affirmations and visualizations have been shown to have a positive effect on actual, real-world performance. So perhaps only the social aspect of praise--the role played by others in developing our self-image--has the potential to derail our pursuit of our goals.
From my personal experience, I suspect that the broad claim about not sharing your goals with others in order to be more productive about reaching those goals is true. It never pays to tell people what I'm writing about or planning to write about. I never get as good a reaction when I tell someone what I want to write as I do when I actually show them what I have written. It's just too hard to explain an outline or story out loud and I always feel a little embarrassed.
Someone whose name I've forgotten noted in a guide to writing that one should "Tell everyone that you are writing. Tell nobody what you are writing until it is done." If you allow for sharing manuscripts with people for review during the process, which has been very valuable for me, I think this advice is solid.
This is another reason, I think, to break goals down into specific, manageable chunks, because then it takes less time to achieve them, at which point you can tell somebody until you get some positive feedback and encouragement and then set out upon your next goal with some renewed energy and sense of accomplishment. And you don't tell anyone any specifics about that goal until you've reached it.
For writing and physical health, some manageable goals that I've attempted with some success are:
- Write X amount of words a day for Y many consecutive days or until a total of XX number of words have been written.
- Write for X amount of time each day for Y many consecutive days or until a specific target date.
- Lose five pounds in X amount of time and keep the weight off for Y amount of time en route to reaching a bigger weight loss goal.
- Do X amount of cardio exercise Y many days a week.
- Improve a particular lift by 2.5 pounds each week until you can lift a desired amount of weight.
That's also why it's hard to focus on too many goals in life--you can only accommodate so many aspects into a consistent lifestyle.
Monday, June 15, 2009
New Blog Direction
Slowly but surely I'm planning on moving over any of my setting-related material residing on this blog to my web site, Dreaming Empires. Much of the material has been moved already and there is a lot of additional stuff on science fiction and superheroes.
I'm going to try to shift the emphasis of the blog toward posts about my family (still using the anonymous approach where I don't reveal names and such), books I've read, and current events.
Because the majority of people who happen to stumble across the blog, who are largely friends and family, aren't really interested in the setting material anyway. My web site can keep focusing on that aspect of my interests. Might still keep the vignettes here, though.
I'm going to try to shift the emphasis of the blog toward posts about my family (still using the anonymous approach where I don't reveal names and such), books I've read, and current events.
Because the majority of people who happen to stumble across the blog, who are largely friends and family, aren't really interested in the setting material anyway. My web site can keep focusing on that aspect of my interests. Might still keep the vignettes here, though.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Feeling a Bit Better
Got a decent exercise program started, done a few different volunteering things with the kids recently, tried to ease up on the critical self-talk. So I'm feeling a little better.
Facing a tricky decision about my upcoming birthday. I have one of the shorter wish lists that I have ever compiled, which is good. But times are tight, so I have to decide between getting some expensive free weights that will allow me to make increases in very small increments (which I think will be psychologically and physically better for me, making steady progress without overtaxing some of my joints) and getting a graphic novel that completes a series I've collected, a book on language and magic, and a subscription to the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
I can see the magazine subscription and the book as further explorations of my efforts to write (testing a likely writing market and developing my understanding of some topics relevant to my current writing interests), while the weights would be part of my physical maintenance and development. Honestly, the physical side is easier to see gains in, though it is more expensive.
Whatever I do, I'm trying to stick with a clear budget for the year.
In another sense my recent sense of improvement has come from what I've let go of. I haven't been blogging as much or with as much effort, which has been good. When nobody really reads your blog--and only one person reads mine with any frequency--it becomes essentially a journal. And there shouldn't be pressure to maintain that. I started altering how I wrote the blog to make it more accessible to people and the result was that it was more time consuming and stressful to write and I can't say I got any more hits, even from immediate family and close friends.
I think the blog and the website held the false promise of gaining readers and others interested in my ideas. But honestly, there is just too much noise out there on the web. I don't stand out and few people have ever expressed much interest in what I have to say, in part because I'm not blogging about everyday issues or seeking to become a clearinghouse of information for certain topics. So I can understand people not having the time or inclination to look. I don't read that many blogs written by other people.
I think I'll keep making some updates to my web site over time as the urge takes me. But so far the Internet has been kind of a lonely experience.
Facing a tricky decision about my upcoming birthday. I have one of the shorter wish lists that I have ever compiled, which is good. But times are tight, so I have to decide between getting some expensive free weights that will allow me to make increases in very small increments (which I think will be psychologically and physically better for me, making steady progress without overtaxing some of my joints) and getting a graphic novel that completes a series I've collected, a book on language and magic, and a subscription to the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
I can see the magazine subscription and the book as further explorations of my efforts to write (testing a likely writing market and developing my understanding of some topics relevant to my current writing interests), while the weights would be part of my physical maintenance and development. Honestly, the physical side is easier to see gains in, though it is more expensive.
Whatever I do, I'm trying to stick with a clear budget for the year.
In another sense my recent sense of improvement has come from what I've let go of. I haven't been blogging as much or with as much effort, which has been good. When nobody really reads your blog--and only one person reads mine with any frequency--it becomes essentially a journal. And there shouldn't be pressure to maintain that. I started altering how I wrote the blog to make it more accessible to people and the result was that it was more time consuming and stressful to write and I can't say I got any more hits, even from immediate family and close friends.
I think the blog and the website held the false promise of gaining readers and others interested in my ideas. But honestly, there is just too much noise out there on the web. I don't stand out and few people have ever expressed much interest in what I have to say, in part because I'm not blogging about everyday issues or seeking to become a clearinghouse of information for certain topics. So I can understand people not having the time or inclination to look. I don't read that many blogs written by other people.
I think I'll keep making some updates to my web site over time as the urge takes me. But so far the Internet has been kind of a lonely experience.
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