Lovely: Wisely - Through Any Window
Nobel Prize '08
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio? I feel so insular (and Anglophone/-phile) but I had to go look him up. Lengthy discussion on why the US hasn't received a Nobel Prize in Literature for some time (parts of the discussion isn't terribly well-informed but some people do make great points). The Literary Saloon weighs in with a very, very authoritative voice and they should also be your one-stop read for reactions to Le Clezio's win.
Break
Some days there are too many things I want to write about: the Othering of Barack Obama by the GOP and whether it is an entirely successful discursive strategy, the idea of knitting as a subversive feminist activity, the question of identity and the Self in blogging (I touched upon it yesterday but I have mulled over it some more) and some random stuff about 19th C engineering achievements in Glasgow and how they are being recontextualised in the 21st century. But, you know, it is sunny outside and I have done a few hours' worth of paperwork, so I think it's time for a walk.
Words Fail Me
Worse, Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."
Crossing The Line
Yesterday someone I knew roughly fifteen years ago wrote to me via Facebook. She asked me if I were dying because she had noticed my status updates on Facebook (and quite possibly this blog) and was, I quote, sooo worried about me!!!!!!!!! One thing which absolutely fascinates me about blogging and, by extension, social networking on the web, is the idea that you "know" the blogger or the person you follow on a social website. Where does that idea of "knowledge" comes from?
I don't know about you, but I moderate my online persona and I have done so ever since I first started blogging almost eight years ago. I used to be almost obsessively private about my identity, but when one of my blog readers began stalking me obsessively in my then-hometown, I realised that anybody would be able to find out who I was no matter how hard I tried to mask my identity. It was just a matter of how net-savvy you were. These days I link my real name to this blog and use a somewhat transparent web 'handle'. I continue to be very aware what I share online.
Do you know me if you read this blog? Of course not, although you will have a good idea of what to expect if we were to have a conversation offline. Can you deduce anything significant from my Facebook-updates? Quite apart from my having a semi-severe PathWords obsession, no.
I'm slightly amazed that anybody would consider asking me about dying via a casual Facebook message or think I would disclose terminal illness via one-sentence updates on a silly social networking site. I think this proves the divide between illusory 'knowledge' generated by virtual interaction and actual knowledge of the person writing all of this.
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Things seem to fall into place today as you'll find from these links and stories. Rhi wrote:
I received an email from an old internet friend that I'd fallen out of touch with several years ago. After adding each other to the key social networking places (as you do) we discovered that since we last spoke, we have continued to share interests. It's hard to explain why that makes me so happy, but it does: the friendship that I treasure most seem to be those that can hang infinitely in the balance, but always fall back into place in the most satisfying way that says: Here we are again
..the friendship that I treasure most seem to be those that can hang infinitely in the balance, but always fall back into place in the most satisfying way that says: Here we are again. I really like that. I really do.
And then from one Canadian to another Canadian. Ever heard of kinnearing? It means "To surreptitiously photograph a celebrity or person of interest because you are too nervous or respectful of their privacy to ask for a photo " and was coined by a well-known Canadian blogger when she was too shy to approach Greg Kinnear. Things come full circles as the blogger discovers when her friend gets Greg Kinnear to kinnear himself (and also pose with a half-knitted sock).
And finally, I'm putting on my raincoat today as we'll be making our way down to the Bigman Festival down by the Forth and Clyde canal. It's less than a mile from where we live and the site is a curious blend of Victorian engineering prowess, urban deprivation and natural beauty. And now it'll feature an Andy Scott sculpture, apparently. Somehow that just perfectly sums up Glasgow.
PS. I have a post about women, knitting, and empowerment brewing in my head but I think I'll need to run it past a few people first.