What's the point of this blog?
Basic Theme: How do you know what you know? This may not always be obvious. Few posts address this directly, but I try to put something into most of the posts that is intended to help people see things from a slightly different perspective. Sometimes it's just connecting two or more topics that aren't usually connected, or putting something into a larger context, or photos looking at some part of the world from a different angle.
The previous post that focuses most on that theme is this one about whether Idaho really exists. It's fairly long, but it has the underlying themes of what is real, what is true, and what proof do we need before we accept something as true?
Here's one that applies the idea of 'How do we know?" to how I think when writing this blog. This is probably the extreme of how I try to examine the facts and my own biases before posting:
Blogging. What's Real? How Do We Know? Stevens, Kepner, Joy [As I reread this post in 2016, I realize it may be too entangled in previous posts to be clear to readers who weren't following along the trail of posts before this one. It's probably more fruitful to read the posts below and if you still want more to come back to this one.]
Who Writes This Blog?
Who Am I? Who Are You? - A post that talks about why I'm reluctant to say too much about myself in the profile. It's not shyness, but it is about how we know things, labels, and 'thick description.'
How I write
The Writing Prior To Posting talks about the process of writing a post. There's a lot of revising. I'm always hoping I can just do a quick five minute post, but that rarely happens.
How I Learned to Study
There are lots of influences on how I learned to think and study, starting with my parents. But here's a post - Reading Between The Lines - about a college class where I was forced to go from chugging along into serious studying.
Procrastination and The Curse of Perfectionism - My first draft of this post said "Begun August 12, 2012/" The last update was July 2015. It's now December 20, 2016. I think it's time I just put this up. It's now January 18, 2017 and it's still not up. It's time. I may come through and edit this for clarity now and then. I expect I'll add more links as well.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with Jamals presentation... a deep and heart centered Imam... thank you for your synopsis. At the end I told him about my shadow puppet show I tour sometimes featuring Karagoz and Hadjivat called 'The Hajj' you can check out the trailer-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnsA_sTF-
I8&list=FLL1Y986Nq9HWdjz3NIxjWIg
And if you haven't had enough puppets check out www.hamumu.org for NW Native transformation masks
Hmm. Got sidetracked learning how to put in a link in my comment, and now it is gone. It said: I'm just learning about online conversations, got to your blog by searching for calendars that can be re-used (I collage a current one every year for my sister and would like to do more for others), and was delighted with the musing on a wabi sabi house (Here's the link, to some photos on my blog inspired by the concept: [wabi sabi photos]. Hope it works. www.annfullerarts.com in case it does not. Now if I can figure out how to subscribe, I can come back for more of your intriguing musings. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ann, Your blog is beautiful and I love your wabi-wabi portraits. They expand my understanding of the concept. I've put in another link here because you got this blog's url in with your own in the link above. I found the hard way that I need to always test the links in the preview of the comment.
DeleteAh, the learning curve of newbies. I just found your reply - from 2017 - while hunting around to ask your permission to copy the ice puddle photo from today's blog post. I have no plans to use it commercially, just want to look at it again myself. I continue to be intrigued and happy looking at your offerings, and am amused that we share Seattle where my son lives, and LA, where I live, close to the Fairfax neighborhood.
DeleteSure, Ann. Make a copy. I really should up-date my photo statement to be in line with the creative commons idea - as you've done on your blog - but when I checked I had some questions, but not the time to get them fully answered. It's really critical that people reusing online images, credit the source and link to it. I also find it only decent to let the original creator know what you're doing, and if it's for more than just personal pleasure, particularly if it's for profit (and websites that take ads are for-profit in my mind) to get permission. Here's a chart that helps with those decisions.
DeleteAnd I often wonder about the people who come to the blog from places I've spent time in. More out-of-the-way places than LA and Seattle, though 'out-of-the-way' is clearly a ethnocentric view of the world, like 'exotic.' People who live in those 'exotic' places don't think of them that way. I probably mean smaller, less populated places. But even LA and Seattle matter in this case. Have we been on the same airplane or same restaurant at the same time? We just learned the other day that the parents of one of my granddaughter's friends, are long-time close friends with the grandchild of a cousin of my mother-in-law. We discovered this connection by chance. How many such 'missed connections' are never discovered? Maybe we'll connect in LA one day. I'd like to see your art live.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteWe should go rock climbing sometime. I have a membership. It's fun.
Hi Mr Dunlap-Shohl,
ReplyDeleteI am a junior from Dublin High School (CA) and I am currently doing a research study to increase the understanding of how caffeine might affect the development of Parkinson’s Disease. I am wondering if you would like to participate in my study by completing an anonymous survey that I have created. The survey takes around 3-5 minute to complete and all the responses to the questions will be kept confidential. Below is the link to the online survey. If you decided to participate, your response will be a value information to the research and I deeply appreciate it. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LNTH2P5
Sincerely,
Emily
Did you confuse Fish Creek with Ship Creek in your latest post?
ReplyDeleteYes! You're right. I better go fix it. Thanks Jim - next time make the correction on the post itself so others will see it, even if I'm a day late reacting.
DeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteThis morning I realized I had not received updates from WhatdoIknow since (I think) April 22nd. I did check gmail's spam folder and I did confirm I am still subscribed...wondering if something is going on with your provider.In any case, I have enjoyed following your blog for several years.
Another Steve from Anchorage
Steve, Thanks for letting me know, since I ignore my email messages. But now that you mention it I don't seem to be getting mine either. There is a new Blogspot option - I found out looking at my settings - and perhaps that's part of it. My hits here for specific new posts have been very low, so that might be an explanation for that, though on Statcounter, the numbers are a bit high.
ReplyDeleteSo are you the SJ from BI originally from Anchorage? Or another one still in Anchorage.