The general idea of the blog site http://www.thethinkingblog.com seems to be that of a “stream of consciousness intended to be succinct and thought provoking.” I like the blog because while diverse, it appears to value the growth and self improvement processes of its contributors.
What I don’t like about this blog, (and many others) is that you will come across a bit of swearing here and there. It is not that I am a prude, or that I never swear myself, but rather that I view swearing as a declaration by the swearer that they are too dumb (at the swearing moment) to know what else to say. I see swearing as a glitch in the minds flow of intelligence, and do my best to avoid routine glitchers, because of how easily I, this imperfect human, can join them.
As with most blogs of any substantial posting duration, the need for improvement often comes in the form of “how does a newby to this blog find a good wave to surf? I commend the blog master for addressing this in the following post: http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/05/most-thoughts-all-time-posts-roundup.html
Okay, my second recommended site http://the-bead-place.com/beading-blog seems to operate under the idea of providing a community forum for beaders country, if not world, wide of learning, information, and inspiration. And having been in the beading community for more than two decades I understand that this is no small accomplishment. A secondary, element is that is seems to be providing beaders a way to hook up with other beaders in their physical areas.
I like that the Admin seems to frequently post quality information on a variety of mediums, crystals, pearls, stones, etc. But I am not particularly fond of the impression of “this is all there is to know on the subject” that the reader comes away with.
Improvement could be made by offering a “list of sites” or that goods and information are available through rather than, just the one. The Admin posts impress me as stated facts, and are not seemingly conducive to comment. They feel more like lectures than conversation at times. To see what I mean check out this “good Lecture” http://the-bead-place.com/beading-blog/?p=25
Moving on to the last of my three recommended sites http://www.slashfood.com
The site seems to be a place to come together over good food ideas and directions and while there being able to connect to anything else that may interest, kind of like gathering at a comfortable kitchen table, with good friends and good coffee.
I like that the recipes range from real cooking with old fashioned ingredients http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/11/a-delicious-40-year-old-recipe-for-broiled-eggplant/
to the more modern “cool whip” when it fits http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/21/heavenly-fruit-trifle
and yes even the unique
http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/11/wasp-crackers-are-creating-a-buzz/
I am not fond of how much hunting and pecking it is taking me to find specific recipes, and am hoping that experience with the site will get me over some of these difficulties.
An improvement I would suggest would be a recipe list of previously posted recipes.
But so far, my most interesting post is the wasp crackers. http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/11/wasp-crackers-are-creating-a-buzz/
take a look or be left without the buzz. — Joan
September 27, 2007 at 6:14 pm |
Some interesting observations, particularly regarding the thinkingblog and profanity, which is one facet of the larger set of issues of tone and style in communication, particularly now that more people can communicate more easily with the rest of the world.
But profanity specifically interests me… have you read much by Pinker on language? I ask because your take that profanity is a glitch in the mental processes makes me recall some of his discussions about where profanity and other language comes from and if profanity in particular isn’t actually a facet of a completely different area of the brain… there are so many cases of people with head injuries who can’t speak, but can swear, and then there are things like Tourette’s syndrome– why do people break out into profanity so often but other types of language so infrequently? Fascinating stuff.
Incidentally, the slashfood site has been a regular stop for me since you posted it earlier…
September 28, 2007 at 6:21 am |
Actually I have spent the bulk of my language research with the likes of Chomsky and Tannen, but having just pulled Pinker up lets me know that yes I have played in the language fields that he developed in, we just hadn’t ‘bumped into and hallooed” each other.
Another interesting time that people swear is as the first utterances after a stroke.
September 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm |
Excellent site, keep up the good work