You Know You’re a Derelict Blogger When . . .

I was about to title this “Is this mic on” post “Shaking the Cobwebs Off,” but my browser autofill informed me that I had already used “Shaking the Rust Off” as a post title. Hooboy. Gonna try to do better. For warmups, here are some random thoughts.

One thing that I hope will happen over the course of the next year is that I’ll have more motivation to read and think about public policy because I’ll have some reason to believe that we as a country – and the leaders we select to act as our representatives – will be in a better position to enact sensible policies.

In order to make that hope a little more realistic, Pattie and I spent some time volunteering with the Barack Obama campaign during the Pennsylvania primary. It was an interesting experience, and kind of weird – for all the intensity that people worked with for weeks on end, the final result seemed to be pretty much what everyone expected. Then again, I suppose those expectations were set with the belief that people would be working as hard as they did. But it’s the weird paradox of being involved with a larger effort – the more you work to be a a part of it, the more you feel like you’re a drop of water in the ocean.

Still really happy with the REM album and still looking forward to the tour.

Overall it was a good semester of teaching, I think. I explored some new ways of encouraging participation. I think I need to keep doing more of that, but I also need to figure out how to do it in an organized way that doesn’t become all-consuming timewise.

Outside of sporting events, I’ve almost stopped watching TV. Stuff is mounting on the DVR, and I just don’t have the energy to watch it. Or maybe it’s patience and focus I’m missing. Man, if I’m not focused enough to watch TV, something’s gone crazy.

Well, something else.

About Dave Thomer

Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.

May 28, 2008 @ 12:57 am

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