Turkey Day Again

It was exactly a year ago when I started my blog. On that 2005 Day-of-the-Turkey, I’m pretty sure when I got up that morning, I did not know that that was the day I was going to begin this journey. But, at some point, as I sat home alone, I did a little exploring on the internet, browsing a few blogs out there that were being published by “ordinary folks” like me, and decided that this was something I could try. Amazingly, I’ve been at it ever since. And, some of you have been readers ever since I let you know I was doing this. For that, I thank you a whole bunch!

I published 150 posts to the first version of TechnoMonk’s Musings between November 24, 2005, and October 25, 2006. Those entries are still available at technomonk.us. In the days since I abandoned that blog for this one with a new look and feel, I’ve added 18 new posts here at technomonksmusings.com. Hence, the stats come out to 168 entries in the past 365 days, for an average of one post every 2.2 days. Not bad for a rookie, I guess!

Update on 2012-01-27 18:42 by TechnoMonk

Dear Reader: The old blog, formerly at technomonk.us, has been deactivated, and most of the entries from that site have now been migrated over to this one.

The Old Blog

Here is an entry that I have not been able to post to the former edition of my blog at technomonk.us (after trying for the past several days)...

I know, I know...I said last time that “I’m baaaacck” ...and then I went away again. You just can’t trust anybody anymore, can you? 

The truth is I thought I was back, but it proved to be not true; I continue[d] to be locked out again (after that last entry). This most recent experience with Blogger is pretty much the last straw for me. As you may recall, when I migrated TechnoMonk’s Musings away from its Comcast-server location (to the present URL) during the summer, I spent weeks and weeks devoted to the task. When things went kafloowie, I just had to figure the problems out by: sorting through the only-modestly-helpful Blogger help files, asking questions of the Blogger Help Group (discussion board), using Google to search the internet for solutions that other users had come up with, writing emails to people I thought might be able to assist, figuring it all out by myself, or leaving a task undone. (Not that you, the reader, noticed very much of this at all…I’m mainly talking about behind-the-scenes web-maintenance stuff.) Anyway, it was very time consuming and frustrating. 

Of course, let’s be fair here, too. Blogger is a free service and was very attractive to me last November when I got the itch to start a blog: in the space of a couple of hours I went from a blogless person to posting my first entry here on TechnoMonk’s Musings. There was not a whole lot of research or deliberateness about this whole thing...I explored a couple of no-cost options on the web and picked one. And here I’ve stayed ever since, despite the problems.

But it’s now time to move on, I believe. Blogger was good while it lasted, but I’ve been at this business long enough now (148 posts prior to this one) to know that I desire options and features on my blog not easily available to me here. (Reliability and support are two that come to mind...) Hence, I’ve started the research in order to make a change (more deliberately this time)...I will pick software and/or a service that will better serve my blogging wants and needs.

Just so you know: I won’t try to migrate this blog onward. I’ll leave it all behind to serve as 11 months worth of “archives.” I intend to obtain another domain name, establish the blog, and take up there where I left off here...just with another “look and feel” for my web presence.

So, stay tuned...I'll let you know when I’m really back...

Update on January 27, 2012:

Dear Reader: I subsequently decided to migrate a large portion of the old blog over to this one, and those entries now appear here (search the "Archives"). Many old posts dated from November 2005 to October 2006 are now available for your reading pleasure.

My Own Dot Com

Just so you know, I’ve become totally enamored with the services and user interface at squarespace.com and have committed to locating my blog here on a permanent basis. I’ve laid down my money and made the move. The new domain name will be technomonksmusings.com. (Yep, I’ve finally got my own dot com location!)

The really frustrating part now is that I still am unable to log into the Blogger system to let my readers at technomonk.us know about this transition. Sooner or later, I suppose, I’ll be able to get back into the system long enough to notify everyone of my new address. In the meantime, folks’ll probably start to get worried: my last post there indicated that I was “back” – and then I disappeared again. Hey everybody: are you out there?

New & Improved Blog

Welcome!! My old Blogger-produced blog was good for my first year of online journaling, but I ultimately discovered I was desirous of a cleaner, more-professional, and up-to-date look. So, here I am with a new address and a new blog. Thanks for traveling this journey with me!

First Do No Harm

I optimistically reported an energy “surge” yesterday. That has turned into an energy trough today. Sigh.
 
Ah, the ebb and flow of my life…the story continues.

A week ago, I reported on overwhelming feelings of sadness in the aftermath of some deep-tissue work on my legs. I’ve also discussed, within these entries, feelings of rejection, heartbreak and loss with respect to past relationships. Authenticity, trust and the meaning of the human experience are also topics I’ve taken on. I realize that the discussion of these, and similar, themes, are likely to continue. Examining my emotional state, awareness of my physical self, exploring spirituality and existential questions are part of the fabric of my life; I write what I know (or think I do) and ask questions as they occur to me.

But: what, exactly , am I doing this for? What is this blog about?

The simple answer, I guess: my own therapy. I write because writing is what I do. I write because it provides an outlet for thoughts and emotions I don’t have any other place for. And this particular venue gives me a place to share, should anyone self-select into my online world.

But, in writing about myself, I sometimes need to make reference to others. I said in a recent email to ya’ll that “…given that you’re in my life, it’s possible that you could end up being mentioned at some point. If that happens, I hope I respect your privacy and feelings appropriately.”

This means I’ve been doing some serious thinking about blogger ethics. Can I be true to myself, talk honestly about my experience, and still, at all times, treat others fairly and decently? I surely have no outright intention of embarrassing, attacking, angering or hurting you. So: I’ve been asking: what is the “right” way to go about this blogging business, anyway (at least in terms of a personal-experience blog like mine)?

Some thinking has gone into this subject already, of course. I’m not the first to be pondering the ethical treatment of fellow humans within this communication medium. A bloggers’ code of ethics has even been proposed.

I have explored this topic, albeit somewhat superficially, with a colleague I went to graduate school with. Although currently not a blogger himself, he is interested in my attempt here — and he’s an educational researcher with keen awareness of confidentiality issues and the possibility of “harm” to participants in research studies. In terms of the kind of human interplay that is blogging, he opines that:

…we have to remember that this ain’t research!!!! It’s public, democratic, open-sourced, put it out there and see who takes a whack at it discourse.

This goes to my own sense of a communitarian, dialogical reality (put that in your blog and float it). That is, we live in a world where very little is private, even though we value privacy above much else. Privacy is negotiated, just like everything else. And a writer (blogger) has to make his/her own decisions about what s/he can live with if somebody else gets a feeling hurt.

Well, that gives me something to think about.

Now, I don’t have any tremendous insights or answers that I can share with you here today. All I can say is that I continue to think about the potential impact my public words might have on my fellow human beings. And I absolutely intend to do everything in my power to respect others’ feelings and their right to privacy.