Dave Lull sends me a link to an article at Critical Mass (the US national book critics' circle blog) by the poet and critic Reginald Shepherd. It's a readable and thoughtful piece (title: All kinds of favors fall from it) on that perennial topic of the discovery of blogs, blogging and the benefits that can ensue. Don't let your eyes glaze over, though, it is a good essay with an individual perspective.
One of the reasons I like the essay is the story of how the author set up his blog: "Though I had never left a comment on a blog before, I was moved to leave one on Ron Silliman’s blog by a post of his that I found infuriating. Silliman, one of the original “Language poets,” is an elder statesman in the somewhat insular online poetry world.. Google’s Blogger software requires one to set up an account in order to leave a comment, but instead of taking me to the comment page once I had done so, the program sent me to a page to set up my own blog. The process was remarkably simple, so I said, “Why not?” "
This immediately reminded me of Susan Barr, whose blog, In Over My Head, was set up in similar circumstances, as reflected by its title. In Susan's case, if I remember correctly, she set up her blog in order to be able to comment on Debra Hamel's young daughter's (now sadly defunct) blog, certainly not because she was infuriated.
Mr Shepherd writes of the good things blogging has bought him, even though his blog comprises careful and referenced articles, rather than quick posts -- in fact, a year of blogging has produced almost a book's worth of essays. He writes: "Through my blog I have developed correspondences and virtual friendships with writers from all over the world, people I would otherwise never have encountered. I have also had some brushes with rabidly insane people, but these have been fairly brief." There are other nice passages in the essay, I recommend reading it.
You're remembering Susan's story correctly, Maxine! I'll have to tell Rebecca her blog's defunctness has been noticed. I wish she'd keep at it. I think it's a good thing to do. But, well, she does not always share my interests.
Posted by: Debra Hamel | 13 February 2008 at 13:07
Yes, indeed, Debra -- my daughters were enthusiastic bloggers for a few months, but for some time now have moved on to other things -- probably not as creative.
Posted by: Maxine | 13 February 2008 at 17:34
I think Rebecca is probably just taking a long rest! Sian too. They'll both be back, stronger than ever - I hope. You and Debra are really remarkable, Maxine, the way you "keep on keepin' on". We lesser bloggers falter from time to time :-)
Posted by: Susan Barr | 14 February 2008 at 06:31
Maxine is remarkable, but I'm not. There are definitely periods when I'm just not that into blogging. If I didn't blog the daily puzzles there would be long stretches of silence. Then again, I come back sometimes and really feel like doing it. But Maxine is forever turning out high-quality material. Very impressive!
Posted by: Debra Hamel | 14 February 2008 at 14:04
Oh you are so kind, thank you! Funny you should write this in a week when I haven't felt much like blogging, for various reasons, including a bad cold.
I too hope Sian and Rebecca will be back. Sian's reason for ceasing blogging was somewhat different from Rebecca's, though -- she had a baby of a more biological kind (called Lara, and she's adorable). But, I have hopes we'll see her online again soon. (And maybe the younger generation of Rebecca, Cathy and Jenny also.)
Posted by: Maxine | 14 February 2008 at 18:25