Sure, I find it odd that some people (my significant other, for example) don't want to have anything to do with "being online" as in having an email account which they regularly check, having a profile on MySpace or Facebook, etc... but after watching The Today Show this morning, I am thinking they may be a bit better off. There's a site "out there" called Reputation Defender; if you google yourself and find an angry blog post (again, blogging gets a bad rap! Dang it!) about you or incriminating pics, the people on this site will contact them and ask them to remove it. Some wonder if this violates free speech (since those angry blogger should be able to say whatever they want, right?), etc... it's all very interesting anyhow.

And... after searching for myself, I find some intriguing things (must-reads!)... "A Role For Blogs in Graduate Education" by Kristine Blair, The Effects of Blogging Knowledge by Lisa Ede, An Introduction to Using Blogs as Content in the Writing Classroom, with an Examination of Issues Ranging from Audience to Remediation (have I read this yet?) by Barclay Barrios, "Writers are not born, they are blogged." Or are they? What teachers say, what research says" by Nichole Converse Livengood, Blogical Construction (a blog about blogging) by Laura Blankenship, ... most of it extends from the Blogosphere article which is pretty cool.

I sound so credible? "Presenters then illuminated their experiences with blogging and displayed their findings in tetrad form. First, Sybil Priebe discussed her prior history of journaling, and described the process she followed to become more comfortable with ownership of both a teaching blog and a personal blog, revealing that, over time, her teaching blog became the more necessary and important outlet for her writing. Priebe’s tetradic display demonstrated that she found blogging to enhance writing and reading for the blogger as well as a fullness of personal life. This type of online journaling, for Priebe, retrieved free expression of self. Her reversal with blogging involved self-consciousness and perfectionism, by allowing un-self conscious, free-form writing. Finally, Priebe acknowledged that blogging rendered isolated writing and actual conversation with colleagues potentially obsolete."

Oooh, and one site regarding my participation in the Fargo Marathon's 5K this last May.

Well, I'M HERE!! and finally found internet access. Woo hoo! I am a bit too dependent on the internet... well, I like to blog daily, at least, but I don't think that's a bad thing. If I write a blog entry down, I'll lose it, and who wants to write and then type it up when you can just type it to begin with. I'd rather be a daily blogger than someone who can't put her cell phone down for a weekend. I CAN do that easily. Easily. So, if I don't miss hearing people's voices, but I do miss blogging, what does that say about me? Whoa.

So far here, I've written down some ideas, listened in on some great history & analysis of that history, met some rockin' cool academics/geeks/teachers (Joe, Danielle, Amanda, Josh, Aleta, etc.), wrote a poem or two, driven around Kalamazoo in a little rental (this city & its surroundings remind me of Fargo & Mpls/St. Paul), and even shopped. [p.s. I did get to Chicago on time for my flight EVEN when they had to delay us, asking 14 people not to take the flight, since the flight to Kalamazoo was delayed as well. Gotta love the airline companies! My trip was not as much of a pain as Amanda's and Josh's, however.]

Time is flying by here... soon, I'll be back in good ol' ND preparing for a new semester with the oddest schedule yet. Things have been switched around, so now I am mainly teaching in the afternoons... seems like an awesome schedule (and it is), yet I am a morning person... it'll all work out; it always does.

[To be used in my Midwest Institute module on Global Blog Analysis: my Master's thesis & my research with Dr. Salting's class.]

Maybe it's okay to feel lost as the summer begins, since Kevin reminds me in one of his posts that:
"Summer is here, high tide for blogging, so I might just start gettin' a little busy."
I like to blog. I like to read and think and research. So who cares if I dive in & blog the summer away?
Well, as long as I get out of the house and find things to blog about, that is.
He brought up another author & book I should consider reading... Jeff Rice's Rhetoric of Cool

An observation: When it comes to advice, it seems as though it only respectfully goes one way. From typically older generations down. Makes me wonder if I should try to influence those who've lived longer than me or have, in my occupation, have taught longer. Then again, there's something to be said for those who have researched, or have become well-read in an area. For example, it'd be odd for someone who's taught longer (and who hasn't used technology as much in their classrooms) to look at the technological practices of another teacher (older or younger) and be able to give advice/criticism. If the teacher who's using the practice or theory has read up on how it works or its possibilities, then... they somewhat become the expert whether they've taught longer or not, right?

And I think this pertains to other situations as well. I can't pinpoint one right now, but I feel as if that's been on my mind lately. "No one above me will listen to me because of my age" even though I feel I am well-read in certain areas, especially blogging. Anyhow... just some tidbits of insights I have had.

{Still feelin' not-so-wonderful... being out in the lakes area helped this weekend a bit (lake air is better for you, or so it seems), but I have once again biked to campus to get some things done (via the internet).}

Oh, Yay! Wade blogs... err flogs! Finally.

exhausted.
braindead.
overloaded with ideas.
"Yes, Ma'am."

nashville was great and friendly and nicely nestled among fall trees.
however, gaylord opryland was overwhelming in visual aesthetics.
like a mini-Vegas with a belt buckle.
or like a mini-Vegas on prozac.
i think i was there too long.
it was as though i stayed at Camp Snoopy.
no rhyme or reason to the hotel/convention center's layout.
it was lovely to come back to cheap food, our supposed Canadian accent, and less religious channels.
the people were so friendly, though.
and i met a fellow blogger in person = bonus.

i'll check ya'll later.

I am surprised (had to look that dang word up - I hate when my brain forgets spellings) that I fell asleep as quickly as I did last night. Exciting things are occurring in the coming days (it's like the kid-before-Christmas)... I get to see my sister and kittycat later today, I get to see friends/significant other tonight, and then I fly to Nashville tomorrow morning for NCTE. Yes, it's another weekend of being geeky. And instead of just a few college teachers & graduate students, this conference is HUGE and is for all sorts of English teachers. I am fairly certain this will be the largest conference I have been to yet. Well, as far as teacherly conferences go. The PCA/ACA is huge as well, but they have a mixture of teachers and others.

Needless to say, I am excited. And I packed well last night. I have a massive suitcase for checking (the mid-sized suitcase no longer has wheels or a handle; the luggage was given to me for high school graduation - no wonder!) and then ONE carry-on. Yes, the girl who adores big bags is just bringing a teeny across-the-body purse and a zippered briefcase-y thing for her carry-on. Amazing. I was shocked as well. Now that I have the iPod, the iBook can stay at home and hibernate.

I think I just need some cash and a disposable camera. Until next week... happy blogging.
[p.s. I may have lunch with Mrs. Huertero at NCTE!]

Apparently, I can use tags (see left side of screen under links). So, I back-tracked through my public posts (up to the beginning of November) to see what they contained... some academic content, some fun, and some just basic ponderings. It's all good.

I also have the ability to title my posts, but that's like trying to come up with a paper title when the paper is just starting out in the process. That's how I view blogging - it's the start to ideas, it's on the cusp of innovation, it can contain final products, but it's usually used, in my life, as a springboard. I would not say my posts are "finished" in the writing sense. Hmph... I may have to think about that more though.

The Vox site Quinn mentioned looks interesting. I like the aesthetics of the site; that's a good sign.

[Think of OK Go's "Do What You Want" as the theme song.] There's something a bit calming about spending a weekend alone. I need some quiet now and then. I finished reading one book and continued with another (recreational ones based in psychology/sociolinguistics), I ventured to the cities to do some real shopping (found some new running shoes), and I watched Vikings football yesterday while reading the Fargo Forum. (Bison beat UC-Davis!)

This week could end up being a calm one... or it could end up chaotic. I have writing conferences with my English 110 students, English 105 students will finish up their Survey Reports, I am sure a few advisees will want to meet with me, and then Thursday afternoon, I take off for Mankato to present a collaborative essay on blogging.

Oh... and Election Day is tomorrow; I had better figure out where to go - I don't think I have ever voted in Wahpeton before.

p.s. A little sidenote to the first paragraph - NDSU offers a Gender & Communication course during the summer (well, they did last summer anyhow) that I may want to consider. I'd also like to take a drawing class too.