Intensities

I've been thinking about what to post, and I've been feeling a bit at a loss. It's not that I don't have things about which I want to write; rather, it's that I have so much about which I want to write that I don't quite know where to begin. This week has been... intense... on many different fronts.

First off, it's strange, when one writes a post, to imagine that it has the potential to spark such an uproar as that one earlier this week did. Again, I've got to thank all of you who have been supportive throughout this stupidity. One of the great things about this community is that support, and I suppose it's what's kept me blogging for as long as I have been. That said, it's easy to forget that one is just not just writing to one's regular audience, but potentially to a much wider range of people than those who are a vocal and public part of that community. One of the things that made this week's drama so intense was the huge spike in hits to the blog. It's one thing to develop a readership over time; it's another thing to have double the readers showing up as a result of just one post. That's what happened this week (and now I've been Inside Higher Ed-ed, and I've stopped myself from looking at the stats after I realized that had happened so as not to totally freak out over what that might mean).

So, if this is how you found the blog, welcome, but please, do read around. The archives are there for a reason. Make your own judgments about what you find here, but if whatever you find enrages you, I'd recommend you read something that doesn't do that and forget you ever heard of me. The blog has been a work in progress, and it's something that I enjoy and something that has been really positive for me. And while I realize that some blogs welcome a kind of antagonistic style of debate, this one doesn't. I'm interested in using this space to think about things and to try to figure them out. I don't have all the answers, nor do I pretend to. What I value most about having readers and having them comment is their engagement in real conversation with each other and with me. I'm committed to maintaining that vibe here, for whatever that's worth.

This week has also been a weird one on both professional and personal fronts. Not a bad one - at all - but... well, just there's been a lot to negotiate, I suppose. It doesn't help that the texts I've been teaching have ranged in subject matter from murder to rape to bloody revolution, that my students are pretty much universally wigging out, or that I seem to have a lot of things outside of work (excellent, wonderful things) that are demanding my attention. But so yeah. Things in all areas are pretty intense. Maybe this is just what I need at this point? Nothing like a little intensity to shake things up, after all.