Political Blogz

Sleepy eyed, I'm cruising Colin's DD, cofee in hand, sound of dumpsters being emptied outside Summit. Good morning, good morning!

I'm really enjoying the variation between formal, informatively chatty tone and the more aggressive, "in yo FACE" action in this post. These variations (aside, of course, from the topic: in this case, I don't think that it's much other than an interesting, reliable place to get information concerning a hotbutton issue) are the type of thing that keep (at least my) interest in a blog.

I'm learning something by reading these, though: pretty words and spot-on metaphors do not, by any means, equate to success in blogging. This post, for instance, really got me going--I was in raptures over the lovely language and it's a cohesive, well-written unit, to boot. However, I found myself ceasing to read by the ends of the paragraphs. As Brenda noted in class, short, concise paragraphs work best to keep and hold an audience. Gaining momentum by short, terse sentences and keeping blocks of texts undauntingly slim is an excellent tactic. (White space ALWAYS WINS).

What was of particular interest to me in this Conservative blog is the vast difference in comment volume: there are so very few compared to some independent Democratic blogs I've seen. What does this say about Conservatives?

Ok. I have some more to get through and some more to say, but I have to go give a talk to the Mafia First Year Seminar kiddlies about bringing their papers to the Writing Center.
"We will help you with your papers," I stated in the last talk I gave. 'Til that moment, I'd had a rapt audience; their big saucer-eyes had gleamed, particularly hopeful at the prospect of partnering with writing tutors who were just sure to get them better grades. I knew that look--the glee. I had to follow up my statement with, "but be careful what you expect when you come in to see us: we won't write them for you." My audience deflated. I love freshmen.