Re: [-empyre-] point of reference

[Chris Ashley <chrisashley@yahoo.com>]

Kominos,

> didn't mean to overlook you.

No problem.

> i was just wondering if you have been influenced by
> first gen bloggers like
> justin who were basically diaryists?

As a former elementary school teacher I have a lot
experience with journaling and know its many values:
developing fluent literacy, developing voice and
authority, and engaging the iterative writing process.
 I'd say that that is what made me more aware of the
need to commit to a regular practice-- and the need to
maintain that commitment-- rather than any
technology-based model.  Once I learned how a weblog
works and recongized how it paralleled other practices
I was off and running.  The most obviously models,
however, are written.  But it wasn't long before I
noticed another parallel-- to the sketchbook.  

The aspect a weblog (or the web) brings that a journal
doesn't is audience; the potential for even a small
audience is a great motivator.  Even a mailing list
has an audience and peers, but it seems more closed to
me than weblogs, and there are tools that make
audience obvious more transparent: links, referers,
comments, and most especially RSS.

Chris