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August 8, 2008
What a week of Blogger-meeting!
My trip was great - we all had a wonderful time helping to celebrate my sister's promotion and I had a good time meeting some of the bloggers I most admire!
Eve Tushnet met me for lunch on the same day I visited the Afghan Gold exhibition. Eve turns out to be much the same mix of philosophy, religion, Dominican-admiration, book-chat, and probing questions (I do hope she takes that lunch off her income taxes - I was being interviewed about the state of contemporary college students!) as she is on her blog, confirming my belief that bloggers I like to read are all typing in their real voices. See below. And further, later.
Megan McArdle gave me the gentle push I needed to start blogging - I commented so regularly at her gone-but-not-forgotten Asymmetrical Information that she gently encouraged me to get my own. I noticed that another of her frequent commenters has done the same lately - Freddie at L'Hôte. Megan and I met a couple of years ago for drinks and dinner in NYC; this was my first chance to find out up close and personal about her reactions to Washington. She's having a lovely time and cybertracking her friends with her iPhone apps. What else would you expect? A city whose dominant ethnic food is Ethiopian and which is full of wonks with good tech skills is the perfect environment for her - and she's getting paid to blog!
Margaret Soltan, two hours, and a Venti dark roast goes a long way towards restoring a cranky man's view of the professoriate. O.K., she drank apple juice from a box, but I already knew she was not a coffee-drinker. The voice was spot on and we had fun ranging about, from the sadness that is the University in Europe to best bets for retirement living. I'm headed South, that's all I'm sure of, and she's headed to the Sun.
One of the old differences between literary and art historical temperaments came out, too - I'm spending my sabbatical running around looking at stuff; Margaret's headed for a beach. Or two, if she can swing it, but she's going to sit and read and think and write. That's one of the reasons I'm happy at being what I am (though, yes, I am cranky about quite a number of things!) - I discovered in time that I am temperamentally suited to running and looking. Arthur Kingsley Porter with his camera and his touring car is the more or less explicit model still for all medievalist art historians.
Do I need to say that I came away from the 3 meetings with enough book recommendations and resolutions to last me till October? That I had a good time? Probably not. But I can repeat a bit of advice: it's always worth looking up a someone who delights you on screen; if someone has a strong voice over many, many posts that lunch, dinner, or cup of coffee will pass too quickly. Forever afterward, too, you'll hear the real voice when you read the typing! And what could be more pleasant than that?
Posted by CrankyProfessor at August 8, 2008 8:57 AM
Comments
Michael--
Welcome back! And my goodness, you're playing in the big leagues these days, what with a link from Fr. Z., lunch with Eve Tushnet! Well done indeed.
It sounds like your sabbatical plans are taking shape. If you anticipate being around the Finger Lakes at all, the fall could be a good time for a photo outing. I'd be happy to provide the big camera, should you be so inclined.
Posted by: Bruce at August 8, 2008 12:30 PM