#1: I had posted previously as a comment that I did not care for Yaro's style. I have tried Yaro's recent posts and, well, I think my mind has been changed. I like Yaro. I need to go back and read Yaro's previous posts again, with a slightly better understanding of Yaro's ways. Also, I hope that there is no animosity between us since making that comment.
#2: College Misery posts seem to be of two types. Those which get a lot of comments and those which get very few comments. I don't know if there's a way to track what qualities draw more comments, but that would be nice to see. At the least, it would be cool to see a graph of how many posts have so many comments. Can you do something like that, Fab?
#3: I am not prepared for the quarter to start a week from tomorrow. It seems that there is an inverse proportion between the amount of work left to do and the time left to do it.
Because I can't pass up being contrary...(and mean, of course)...
ReplyDelete1- Who cares what you think? Who cares what I think? Why must these stupid ass blogs always devolve into popularity contests? What many of us used to find disreputable was the cult of personality that RYS used to cultivate, which left many of us wondering why the heck so many lame-ass crackpots got fan-mail. Or should we all write slobbering posts to one another as if we're all Madonna and Donny Osmond?
2- Why does it matter how many comments posts get? Popularity contest again? Or just another academic obsession with meta-discussions?
3- I'd rather hear more about those issues regarding time, workload and preparedness than read another person rave about a fictional persona created here.
P.S. I'm a fan of Mathsquatch because he's hairy and can rip a student's arms off with his bare hands! Go, Mathsquatch! Please send me an autographed pin-up at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Hellmouth, California 10666.
I am a Yaro lover. I don't know how old he is but I want him to be my dad. I am 47 so he'd better be old. Either way I suspect he is beyond our contempt or praise.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes the longer, philosophical entries get thought about more than commented upon. When people vent, they get more responses.
Too many posts ABOUT the page seems to be a common devolution of blogs. This page exists for us to vent "the misery," right? Or is it something else already?
ReplyDeleteMeany, You can simply look at the Posts / Edit page and see all 339 posts put up, and then see their number of comments. Or, you can just look at this very page and go to the bottom of each posts to see how many comments.
ReplyDeleteYaro can't be beat. I don't care how authentic he is. And his posts are also about things, not just about himself. He's quirky, but for example his last post was long, interesting, and about a serious problem in academe.
ReplyDeleteIt's when a cult of personality wannabe makes his/her posts all about ... well ... him/her. That's when it's tiresome.
I just must take this opportunity to say that I finally figured out who Yaro, whom I LOVE, reminds me of: One of the two titular characters in Erin O'Brien's novel HARVEY AND ECK. Why'nt you all do yourselves a big favor, get on over to Amazon, buy and read the book, then come on back in here to tell me if you agree?
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am in no way affiliated with Amazon, the author or any old whatever; I merely love me some Yaro AND some O'Brien and would love to see both getting some more of that from others.
ELS hit the nail with this statement:
ReplyDelete"Too many posts ABOUT the page seems to be a common devolution of blogs."
How many of us have seen some good blogs die because of that phenomenon? (RYS, hello?)
Sometimes a post can be funny or heart-wrenching without asking a question. I'm not sure the number of posted replies has much to do with anything. And as Meanest says, it's neither here nor there (although he had to go and be mean about it, didn't he?)
ReplyDeleteI divide posts on CM into two categories: the shared misery groaning, and the earnest requests for ideas, solutions, comments, feedback. (I usually ignore the posts about the blog itself, but hey.)
I like me a mix of the two categories: the funny smackdowns and the occasional conversation about how to go about preventing the worst in our students.
It is interesting to note which posts get lots of comments. I agree with the earlier comments. Sometimes a great post doesn't generate comments because the piece sort of says it all.
ReplyDeleteOther times the comments sprawl, but they go away from the post down some other paths, which can be very good, too.
I have to admit I LIKE to know who's writing. I mean, we could all post anonymously, but then we lose a lot of the context. Maybe there's a way to have identity without it turning into Cult of Personality.
I mean, when I see a comment or post by "Meanest Professor Ever," well I know something about that person / character, whatever. I think that's okay.
Yaro, is about 75% personality, right? But I think he'd be a cool colleague, so it doesn't bug me.
Myra, early on, sort of grated on me, but the more she's written, the more I understand her.
I knew NOTHING about Stella from Sparksburg, but just the creativity and humor in her pieces has made her someone I feel I know as well as some people I work with!!!!
Eating Low Salt, I think, is just a commenter. But I see his/her name, read the comments, and usually I think: I can see that. So that's someone who I begin to trust and look forward to reading.
That having been said, if Yaro bugged me, and I saw that giant goofy avatar, I could skip around him if need be. I wouldn't, but that's an example.
he had to go and be mean about it, didn't he?
ReplyDeleteI've decided it's my schtick. (Thank you for the appellation, oh sorry-ass students who blamed me for your failure to do college-level work!) Frod called me psychotic the other day, which I thought was amusing, so I decided to roll with it. People will get the joke or not. (Sadly, I predict most not.)
Yeah, most of my jokes require intelligence! Which is odd, since of course this joke is from Animal House.
ReplyDelete