A Quick Update, including a Thanks! and a Congrats!

The reaction to a recent post of mine surprised me by its warm reception. Tutor gave me a challenge (or assignment, or whatever you want to call it — when your mentor drops a hint it's as good as a command) to bring it to the next level. I accepted the challenge and began writing what I thought would be a fairly quick response.

Well, I am still writing it — it's turned into quite a major undertaking, far larger and more involved than I had originally intended and envisioned.

But in composing it I am in contravention of the medium of blogging. Tutor once lectured me that

...on the web, you need some enabling set of assumptions that let you link to others daily. Otherwise you are fighting the genre and the conventions of reciprocity.

I think this is good advice as this is indeed working with the medium.

But once an artist understands his medium he should be permitted to contravene or play with its conventions and inherent nature if, by so doing, it enables him to further his expression. In fact, the contravention may become a necessary aspect of his mode of expression and even serve to extend the medium's expressive capabilities.

So with all due respect to Tutor, much as I would love to abide by generic conventions I find it too much a straightjacket. I'm aware that I risk losing some of whatever capital I may have built up, but I believe a writer ultimately finds an audience who will give allowance for breaking convention if it furthers their mutual benefit. If not, so be it. If so, then I delight that we have found each other!

(On the other hand, the way this next post is going I don't know if I'll want to wait the week or fortnight it might take to complete it before posting other things. Perhaps I need to learn that one can write short pieces while composing lengthier ones.)


Basically, I'm busy on a major post, and though I would love to continue providing some kind of filler in the interim I just can't. I wouldn't have even bothered with this post if I didn't feel the desire to acknowledge the attention I recently garnered from Dr. Menlo.

But I had to post something after Dr. Menlo so graciously honored me as his "Progressive Blog of the Week". To which I say,

Thank you very much, Dr. Menlo.


And, while I'm at it, I would also like to congratulate Nick Lewis of the most excellent Net Politik for his great success in doubling his audience in a matter of a fortnight. Through his outreach across the progressive spectrum — by creating The Net Politik Fellowship of Punditry (of which I am honored to be one, even though I have not contributed much lately), as well as forming The Progressive Blog Alliance — he has done a great deal to bring many of us together, and I applaud his success!

I knew Nick was starting something special when he invited me to be one of the Fellowship because though we may strongly disagree on tactics, he was willing to look past that to see that we ultimately share the same goal and vision of a world in which social justice is a reality. And that is exactly what us Progressives, Radicals, Greens, Lefties and Anarchists need more of!

I also extend the same gratitude to Dr. Menlo for doing likewise with his several blogs, particularly the vitally important American Samizdat, another venue in which I am honored to participate. Dr. Menlo must be lauded for his efforts to bring us together as well!

So a hearty Congratulations! to Nick Lewis and Net Politik for their remarkable growth and success; and to Dr. Menlo and American Samizdat for setting a standard that brings us Progressives, Radicals, Greens, Lefties and Anarchists together!

I am glad to be a part of both of these worthy venues, and I look forward to contributing more to them in the (hopefully) near future.


[Hmm..."Greens, Radicals, Anarchists, Progressives, Lefties" = GRAPL ?]