Distemper
I sometimes wonder what the role of blogs in academic life should be, as it seems to work really well for some people and not so much for others. In particular, I think the bleg should have some rules about it. At the obvious risk of picking a fight with a more senior colleague whom I don’t really know, who has tenure in my field, and who has clearly done the work over a much longer period of time than I have, I nevertheless point to this discussion of preferences versus tastes. The point at which the first comment was offered, responded to, and then left with no discussion, leaves me kind of sad. I have no doubt that this isn’t intentional maliciousness or anything close, but still it doesn’t strike me as particularly classy in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, this being Monday, I’m annoyed at myself for not getting enough done last week and now facing a daunting week ahead, so one might simply chalk this up to distemper.
Is this about me? If so, I’m actually quite sorry that I’m only realizing now that it prompted a discussion. I looked back and there were a couple comments and I meant to respond it and then got caught up with other things and… well, I got distracted. Now I see there was even a longer discussion. I can see where it would be irritating that I didn’t respond even if there had been only two comments, and apologize for this. The world of blog comments moves so quickly that if you take your eye off the ball for a bit, it feels like you’ve left aeons go by.