Jackson Free Press

Winter colds can really cramp your blogging style. They can also make you stop and think about what you're blogging about in the first place.

I've just realized to my horror that this is my first entry since I blogged for choice on January 22nd. That's way too long between blog entries. I blame the nasty cold/flu-with-multiple-secondary-infections cocktail that I've had for a good two weeks now, the one that sent me to the doctor after a 102.8-degree fever. "Yeah, you've got the crud," he told me. "Good news is that it responds really well to antibiotics." Now I'm on my third round of antibiotics and feeling much better, but all...existential and stuff.

Last week, About.com officially hired me as their new Guide to Civil Liberties (though my version of the site won't go live for another few days). The main thing I'll do on the civil liberties site is blog on civil liberties issues. That's a necessary niche. There aren't many blogs out there that focus exclusively on civil liberties, particularly ones that will (as mine will) deal mainly in facts, news, and arguments, rather than in my personal judgments of whether certain events are good or bad.

I'm also beginning to realize that using this blog to promote my writing career by letting everybody know when my latest title has sold 10,000 copies or been reviewed in Booklist, or what I'm currently doing professionally, would probably be pretty boring for most readers. So I'm planning on setting up kind of a .project file blog on http://www.tomhead.net at some point, which deals only in my writing career and what I'm working and how well my books are doing. Likewise, I'm mulling on a sub-blog that covers my dissertation research, which focuses on the aftermodernist hermeneutics of Rabbi Max Kadushin.

None of this takes anything away from the wonderful opportunity I have through this blog to have conversations, to dialogue with people, to network locally. I don't want any of that to change.

But I've also noticed that what I have to say about politics isn't really all that interesting relative to what other people have to say, and we have lots of political bloggers on this site who write about politics much better than I do, albeit not usually at quite so much length. I've become kind of a political Real Live Preacher, but with less talent and warmth. I don't like that.

So I'm thinking I need to move away from politics and find a more specific style, a more specific niche, a more specific angle, to justify this blog's existence and draw traffic to the JFP site from people who don't already know who I am. I want this blog to have a national profile and inspire people to have discussions that they aren't already having on the rest of the site. How should I do that?

I've got a few ideas...

- A satire blog. Blog entries written more like stories, sort of like my well-received conversation with Luce, but more over-the-top. Sort of like halfway between my current tone and Ken Stiggers.

- Focusing on gender and race--the two issues that interest me most, other than civil liberties. Certainly I'll want to do a lot of that regardless of my topic. But I'm afraid this would get repetitive after a while if I never did anything else; there's something about the prospect of being a white man who never talks about anything but gender and race that just doesn't sit right.

- Taking a Religious Left tack. This is the most promote-able of the available options, but there are people who are in a more credible position to talk religion. Besides, it's easy to debate to what extent I'm religiously leftist and to what extent I'm jut plain humanistic. On the plus side, this would let me go over the top and do the kinds of quasi-sermons that you know I've been just itching to do anyway.

- Going to a strict Q&A format. Ali joked earlier about doing a therapist gimmick (which would rock), and I can personally see blogging something that looks like a cross between Cecil Adams' The Straight Dope and Garrison Keillor's Mr. Blue. But one of my great Winter insights is that so much of what I do seems to revolve around convincing people that I have authority, that what I have to say is important just because I say it, and I'm not sure I want to encourage that tendency in myself. Unless, of course, it's fun to read...

So, any of this grab you? Or do you have another idea? Or do you want the blog to stay the way it is? This is your blog as much as mine, so let's talk.

Previous Commentsshow

I kind of like your blog's current feel, which is a catch-all of things that interest you. But, if you want to focus, I really like to hear what you say about religion, gender and race. I hope you don't give any of those up.

DonnaLadd

Feb 13 2006

I really like your blog just the way it is - you often articulate positions on issues that I agree with, and it's nice to see it come from someone else. Whatever you do, I'll keep reading.

Christine

Feb 14 2006

My blog just seems to be a collection of articles that I think are funny and interesting. I wish I could somehow combine my personal blog with the JFP blog and do a little of the "satire of life" funny stuff and a little political stuff. I understand wanting to feel like you have "direction". Because I have so LITTLE of it. ;)

Lori G

Feb 14 2006

Thanks, y'all. And good to hear from you, Christine. It reminds me that I have fans I don't even know about yet. ;o) I've got an inner ear infection going right now and on my third round of antibiotics, so I'm about to head off to bed again. But Donna and Ali, I think y'all are highlighting both aspects of the decision very well here: On the one hand I need to stay on my topics (gender, race, and relligion), and on the other the lack of direction is kind of driving me bananas. I feel like I need a gimmick of some kind to take advantage of this wonderful platform I've got, to build an audience. I'll sleep on it! Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 15 2006

See vegan just may not be the way to go.

*SuperStar*

Feb 15 2006

I don't know, SuperStar. What if there are bacterial infections floating around that like barbecue? Yeah, I've gotta believe my diet of whole-wheat bread and textured soy protein is scaring a few potential infections off. Nitpick: I'm vegetarian, not vegan. Had a very un-vegan-friendly peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast this morning. But I eat a lot of vegan food, and it's amazing how easily you can, say, substitute tofu for ricotta. I had no idea. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 15 2006

I've been meditating on this, and I think what I'm going to do for now is keep the old format but unofficially focus exclusively, or at least almost exclusively, on philosophical stuff, the religious left, and race and gender issues. Thanks to everyone for the kind words! Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 16 2006

Tom, I like the yahoo group you have set up and think what you are trying to do is definitely needed. What suggestions do you have for other literary creatives that are trying to meet each other? I think Jackson needs something similar to the Dead Poets Society. Something that allows writers of all age groups to network and find out about events that are going on throughout the state and elsewhere where they can showcase their work. I also think we need a directory that breaks down the different literary forms. I think it would be helpful for others who are looking for literary creatives for certain events. It should even list fees for speaking engagements, etc. Let me know what you think.

c a webb

Feb 18 2006

All, remember we're having the JFP Lounge THIS Thursday (the 23rd) at Hal & Mal's. This is exactly what this is, although more social than regimented. (I'm not big on regimented.) Please come out anytime between 7:30 and 11 p.m. We'll have free munchies out, but other food and drinks are dutch. It's in the Oyster Bar just right of the main bar; it's non-smoking in there; smokers filter out to the bar. It's really fun, and a great chance to meet people and exchange cards and such, so I hope everyone will turn out.

DonnaLadd

Feb 18 2006

Tom: I'll love ya no matter what you do. :) I had no idea about the Yahoo group, though. Suppose I'll have to go look for it!

Lady Havoc

Feb 19 2006

C.A., sorry for the delay in responding--missed your post the first time. I think that's a great idea. I had originally planned to set up a chapter of the National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981 down here (Donna was on the ground floor for that, and I'd still like to do something with it eventually), but the dues went up again and were already at a level that I don't think most writers in this, the 49th poorest state, could easily afford. We certainly need to do a better job of networking creatives in this area. As soon as I'm healthy and my schedule loosens up a little bit, let's do coffee and talk about this. Donna, I wanna make the Lounge, but I'm not much of a bar person. Transportation is, as you might expect, one issue, but my cultural history with alcohol, as it were, isn't all that good either. My own alcohol tolerance is obscenely low--I have literally gotten drunk off a half glass of wine--and there's a family history of alcohol issues. So the stuff, frankly, scares me, and events that surround the stuff scare me. I'll get better at adapting to this sort of thing as time goes on, but for now I'm moving slow and being gentle with myself, which is the advice I'd give anyone else in my situation. Lady Havoc, LTNS--it's so great to see you here! :o) How on Earth have you been...? You can find the JACP group here. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 19 2006

I also think I need to mention here that I'm not sure that what C.A. was talking about was the Lounge per se. There are two operating definitions of "creatives" here; I'm thinking less of the broader creative class and more of specific craftspeople (writers, artists, musicians, web designers, etc.) This is not so much because I want to exclude architects and programmers and whatnot, who are explicitly welcomed in the JACP listserv description, but more because these kinds of creatives tend to lack the kind of professional networking that other creatives naturally get. I think C.A.'s specific idea of a local writer's clearinghouse, as it were, is a brilliant one, and I've been wondering for years how that might be done. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 19 2006

Oh, hell. I managed to sound critical of Donna and the Lounge and self-absorbed at the same time, so let me try this again: I'm sure the Lounge rocks. It probably wouldn't be my cup of tea, at least at this point in my life, but I'm inclined to go anyway just because of the really cool people who attend these things. That said... The Lounge is a general social event. Not limited to artists, so there wouldn't be as much of an opportunity to talk shop. Public event, walk-in, so there wouldn't be as much of an opportunity to establish a long-term, small, identifiable group of regulars. My aversion to bars and live music events isn't terribly relevant, nor is it particularly potent; I've been to bars before, and almost went last week for a nonprofit/activism group get-together, actually, but had to skip out because I had an ear infection (still do, actually) and was deaf as a post (still am, actually). The benefit of specific writers' clubs, musicians' clubs, et. al. is that there would be smaller groups and more opportunity for specific, intensive social networking. I'm thinking of one local private genre-specific writers' group that meets biweekly--at a bar, actually, now that I think of it--and is made up of six or seven people. These folks each know what every other person is doing, career-wise, and they can keep up with one another's needs in a way that larger groups can't. I hear Magnolia State Romance Writers is also really good at this. My long-term nugget of an idea for JACP is less as a general group of all area creatives and more as a clearinghouse for more specific groups of creatives, with larger crossover events to bring people together. I also think that serving some kind of directory purpose, partly for helping people network and partly just to show how vibrant the artistic community is here in Jackson, would be really useful. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 19 2006

Tom, I understood what you were saying. I think the Lounge has done a great job at promoting networking with creatives, but I would like to see more specialized groups that can get together and tackle their own issues. I don't have any intention of starting something like that myself, however, I would be on board to support and promote it because I think it is so needed. I was also thinking about something where junior high and high school students could be involved, because I think those are critical age groups that need to be nurtured before they become too jaded to their individual thoughts.

c a webb

Feb 19 2006

The point, guys, is that you can meet people at The Lounge who want to do these other things. Also, Rebekah Potter and some other artists are reviving The Collective. Remember, we also run the risk of dividing everyone up too much into different groups, and then people get the "crab mentality" C.A. refers to on his blog. I've sent that happen here way too much. But I know where y'all are going here. But you do gotta meet the people first. ;-) Hal & Mal's is also a restaurant, Tom. You don't have to drink and, as I said, The Lounge is centered in a no-smoking room there. I know it's not for everyone, but I thikn a lot of the people who come to the site would enjoy it.

DonnaLadd

Feb 19 2006

I'm sure they would and do, Donna, and you'll see me at a Lounge one of these days. But I don't really see the Lounge as a competing group from anything C.A. and I are talking about. A bunch of folks from all walks of life getting together informally at Hal & Mal's for four hours once a month is a good thing, but I just don't see how setting up a directory of local creative artists would compete with that, any more than setting up a Macintosh users' group or bluegrass club would compete with that. The crab mentality is a definite problem, but as long as organizations with overlapping missions cooperate, I don't really see the danger here. I mean, there are some really, really great poetry groups operating right now. But if the folks running them had to go through the existing Mississippi Poetry Society just to get a group of poets together in front of a mic, I'm pretty sure the poetry scene in Jackson would be a heck of a lot less interesting. This is not to say that I even know what I'm doing, exactly, with the JACP listserv. But I think there do need to be better opportunities for local creative artists to network. If the Collective serves that goal and I end up not even having to do anything with JACP, that's fantastic. I'm not interested in control or credit; I'm interested in networking. I don't really care who does it. I'd actually rather it not be me at this point in my life, because I've already got a full calendar and trying to get groups going from scratch is a pain in the toches. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 19 2006

Tom and C.A., Could you please post your ideas on the JACP to the group page? Donna, I'll be missing another Lounge because of another commitment, and I don't know how long it will take, but I expect it will be a while.

LatashaWillis

Feb 19 2006

Donna, You are right about the Lounge being a "jump off" to meeting meeting with the same interest. Otherwise, I would've never found out about the Collective. I guess why I posed the question about the literary groups is more for young people. A society that they can be proud to be a part of and that is made for them. As I've said before---I guess like Tom---I can't spearhead it myself but I can definitely work along with it and contribute time and ideas. Again, my brainstorm is for us "old folks" to help those in the junior and high schools that are coming up.

c a webb

Feb 19 2006

Oh, gracious, I don't see it competing either! I just think it's a good place to get people in one place to talk about ideas in a casual setting. The more groups the better -- as long as they're not crabby toward each other. ;-)

DonnaLadd

Feb 20 2006

Agreed. That would be shellfish of us. :P As far as parties go: Just saw this quote, and it must have been synchronicity... "I had rather go to a party than stay at home. I had rather go to a theater than a party. I had rather hear Theodore Parker than go to the theater." - Julia Ward Howe Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 20 2006

Tom, I spent some time last night visiting your links from the other group you had on yahoo that was for writers. It led me to the MS Poet Society, something I didn't even know existed. From looking at their site, it looks very "old school" to me. What do you know about them? I emailed them about info for membership. Doesn't look like they have much to do with young adults. What can you tell me about them?

c a webb

Feb 20 2006

C.A., back when I was a teenager I served as treasurer of the Poetry Society for a few years. It's not a bad little group, but it's very insular and very old. I don't think anyone with the group would suffer hurt feelings if I referred to it as basically being a little old ladies' club. The median age was something like 70. You would have probably liked it more during its heyday, when Mississippi College classics professor Goldie Jane Feldman was a stickler for good meter and Kosciusko lyric poet Jack Fenwick (by far the best lyric poet in the state, IMHO, and someone who should have been poet laureate) offered up booming and utterly flawless chant royals in his beautifully dignified Shelby Foote voice. He once wrote a poem on the nature of time and mortality that included this line: "When time is gone, time never was; a permanence the clock endured. Whatever motion was its cause, the aberration has been cured." My favorite of his poems was his "Chant for Socrates," a lengthy poem against the death penalty which I need to find, sometime, because MESJ really should ask permission to reprint and stick it up on its web site. It's 110 lines; I can't remember most of it, but ten years after the fact, this part sticks in my head: "...and in the garden, happy fools are playing and burning little effigies of Cain. Ask any man: Mankind's a cruel foe. Come! Let us forget the deadly glow of the chair. Let the man cooperate, the jailer weep, and all be desolate. Let us imagine his forgiving air as he stands and drinks his hemlock straight..." But Goldie's dead and if Jack's still alive, he's well into his nineties. When the Poetry Society meetings lost both of them in the mid 90s, the group never really recovered. I stopped attending because I felt like it wasn't helping my craft anymore. Then I sat down and wrote 22 nonfiction books. Haven't done poetry in years. I need to go back to it. When I do, I'll probably work at rhyme and meter, even though it's a dead art, in hopes of maybe at some point being maybe 1/10th as good at it as Jack Fenwick was on a bad day. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 21 2006

(I need to go back to lyric poetry itself, that is--not the Poetry Society which, here again, stopped being what it was for me after we lost Goldie and Jack. Cheers, TH)

Tom Head

Feb 21 2006