There is no question that my microblogging practice has reshaped my blogging here -- my writerly habits and commitments have changed. Of course, teaching is no less demanding than it ever was: For most of the first decade of the blog this often meant dry writing spells while I was crafting lectures or grading papers, while now it means instead days in a row in which a Wilde quote or a slightly enriched tweet is all I have the time (or inclination) to post. Superficial contact yields an ongoingness that keeps the blog livelier than those protracted inactive gulfs did, I guess, but contentedness with these light touches makes it too easy for me to put a blog on the shelf spiritually. I also do know of course that more pithy bloggers like Atrios are perfectly capable of doing critical, provocative, engaging work that manages in the aggregate to express a real voice in posts that cleave close to tweet-craft. Despite all that, I do think Amor Mundi has lost something lately.
I feel I'm not much of a qualified rhetor here, but I really value your blog and twitter posts and find that - in my (temporary and somewhat regrettable) relative distance from an academic environment and immersion in rural community work pursuits - I appreciate your comments and crave the theoretical challenges you put to your readers everyday. Moreover, I just can't find anywhere else what I find here. So please, keep on keepin' on!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the sentiment. Fear not, this post was more about mustering the willpower to write longform posts again than about throwing in the towel. Good to hear from you.
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