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	June 17, 2003

EXILE The silent sister veiled in white and blue Between the yews, behind the garden god, Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke no word But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down Redeem the time, redeem the dream The token of the word unheard, unspoken Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew And after this our exile T.S. Eliot,  Ash-Wednesday 5:12:42 PM  trackback []  comment []

AND THEN HE SAID... Every once in awhile I take stock of what I've written recently, and ask myself what I should write next. I'm often tempted to write shorter, snappier articles, which tend to be read by more people and give me much-needed practice in brevity and clever turn of phrase. The problem is that such short pieces also tend to be unsubstantial. When I post the results of original research or surveys, my hit rates jump significantly. These are, alas, hard to do well. I'm a 'thinker' not a 'linker', though I have enormous admiration for those like Mark Woods , Caterina and Natasha who read immense volumes of news and commentary, report only the best and most important in their blogs, and say just the right amount to provide the context needed to allow each reader to determine whether or not to read the entire article in question. Reading a dozen such blogs per day almost eliminates, for me, the need to read newspapers. If my goal was strictly popularity of my blog, I'd write about business, the nuances of blogging, and informative and educational articles on politics and economics (they receive an average of 10 comments per post). I'd write less poetry, fewer short stories and memoirs, less on society and culture (my posts on depression , procrastination , regret and compromise ), and fewer persuasive articles and essays on politics and philosophy. Here's what I'm thinking of writing about over the next couple of weeks. Dear patient reader, I would welcome your guidance, preferences, and additional ideas (but please e-mail me rather than commenting, to avoid biasing others' responses). Stories: Businesses that put people above profit Five simple ways to make weblog software better Things that don't make sense Pollard's best-of-breed blog list A specification for a Social Networking Enablement system for business Why is there no good porn? Short story: The girl in the rain Bush's dream: If there was no government A proposal: The Salon bloggers' book exchange The blogosphere fitness challenge Small is beautiful: The case for decentralization of big business A contest: Where in the world was that taken? The new communication media: When to use blogs, wikis, e-mail, IM, forums, chat, groupware and the telephone 5:39:12 AM  trackback []  comment []

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