I've been blogging four months so far (June, July, August, September), and enjoying it immensely. One of my worries was that it would provide too much distraction from work that needs to be done. It has occasionally done that, particularly when a post ended up being more complicated than I expected, but in general it has had the opposite effect. If you haven't figured it out yet, I have an unruly mind, one that jumps all over the place. Having this weblog has made it possible for me to siphon off some of that unruliness onto it, leaving me more focused for other things. An overview of some of what's happened:
* Topic I Didn't Expect to Talk about as Much as I Have: Political Taste. I expected to say a few things about aesthetic taste; but the parallel with politics just took over on its own, and in the very political blogosphere it grew and grew. You can expect to see it again.
* Post Whose Popularity Most Surprised Me: Marginalia (June 26). This was the first of my posts to bring in a great many hits (at least, for this weblog, especially in June). I think a German library-focused weblog linked to it, because I was getting hits from all over Europe.
* Post that Stirred Up the Most Surprising Controversy: Monogamy and Nonmonogamy (September 30). I don't quite recall what occasioned it (even though it was only a few days ago), but I was caught a bit off guard when people actually started arguing with it; it was something just thrown out there. But I've learned quite a bit from it; and learning from an unexpected quarter is a good thing.
* Post that Most Consistently Gets Hits from Search Engines: On Lesbianism in Coleridge's Christabel
* Some of the Posts You Might Find Worth Re-reading:
On Natural Law
More Misconceptions about Natural Law (July 1) - a bit harsh, but still right
Perhaps I Promise to do Evil Things (July 2)
On Nussbaum's Views on Disgust
Ashamed of Shame, Disgusted with Disgust (July 22)
More on Nussbaum on Disgust (August 10)
On Lakoff's Views on Framing
They're Politicians. It's What They Do.
Framing, the Silver Rule, and Political Taste (September 22)
On the Framing of Framing (September 23)
The Dangers of Poorly Chosen Metaphor (September 25)
Not Quite Right, I Think (September 26)
On Brain in the Vat Arguments
Brains in Vats (June 19)
On People Who Are Not So Sure They Are Not Brains in Vats (June 26)
Oh, yeah, the other external world; I forgot about that one (August 2)
* My Portrait. After a fashion, at least.
