Robert Henry Hinckley: Getting to Know Him - Bae B. Gardner (4 of 5 Votes)

So...before you get too deep into this post, let me remind you of my purpose for maintaining this website - why do I always avoid calling this thing a blog? Here, there, doesn't matter who I'm talking too. Blog is such an ugly word. Can anybody back me up on this? I know it's short for weblog, but it's such an ugly word. It seems so...geeky. Is there anything attractive about the word blog? Do I gain any clout for owning a blog?...or seven for that matter...sheesh. What a mess. Am I the only one that thinks this way? Does anyone else cringe whenever the hear the word blog or are forced to utter its horrid name? Perhaps it's because the blogosphere...yuck, exploded while I was a missionary (or so I claim). Maybe that's why. I missed the boat. I'm like an old man ashamed that he can't use a keyboard. Mystified. Paralyzed. Why can't they come up with a more debonair title like...well...um...like...I don't know...siphon. Yeah. We'll call it siphon.

Jake walks into the apartment.

Dan: "Hey. Nice drop on the siphon today."

Jake: "Thanks. I'm glad I siphoned it."

Dan: "Yeah. You've had a lot of great posts on your siphon lately. Lots of siphoners too."

Jake: "Yeah. No kidding. It's probably because I started calling it a siphon."

Dan: "Yeah. Probably. What are you going to be siphoning about tomorrow."

Jake: "Don't know. Depends on how siphony I feel after work."

Friends, Romans, Siphoners, lend me your ears. Let it be known from here on and hereafter that the object before know as a bl...yem....that website thingy...will henceforth and forever be known as a siphon. That's right folks - a siphon. Knowledge, opinions, recipes and scrapbooking ideas can all be siphoned from the internet by you, the intrepid siphoners. Let the stream of water dribble out or come gushing from the pipe. Take it with you. Tell your fellow siphoners after all of the great ideas you've found on the siphonet. Oh yeah...like that...the siphonet. Siphon, siphon, siphon. Siphon. Have no fear to speak of the siphon with family, friends, coworkers, girlfriends, even your goldfish. Everybody loves the sound of siphon. It slips slyly so softly succulently soff syour stongue. Put your Star Trek and WoW shirts back in the closet. Pull out the titanium cufflinks and the Armani suit cause we are going out on the town baby. Siphon!

Oh dear.

Um...well...I think I had too much mac and cheese tonight...sorry about that. I'm not quite sure what came over me. Um...well...Robert Hinckley? Yeah. Great guy. Started the Hinckley Institute at the University of Utah. Want to know more? Go read the book!

Do you like the word blog? If so, why? If not, what would you rather call them?

Labeling: The New Frontier

As you have probably noticed, there have been some changes to the sidebar of this website. The "Topics" thingy will now provide us with a better way of classifying the books that have been reviewed. I believe this will make it easier for visitors to search for books that they might find interesting. It will also give those of us that have been here for a while a way to find book reviews that we may have missed when they were originally posted.

All of the "Contributors" listed on right sidebar should have permissions to use the labeling function. To access the labeling page you will first need to log in to Blogger and then click on the "Customize" link in the top right corner of the homepage. You will then click on the "Posting" tab on the left side, followed by the "Edit Posts" tab just below it. You should now be able to see all of the posts on the site. To add a label you need to click on the little grey box to the left of the post title. Then go up to the top of the list and click the drop down menu "Label Actions." From there you can add an existing label or input a new label.

I have now labeled most of the books I have reviewed. In a few cases I labeled a post written by someone else because I was familiar with the book. I would appreciate it if you would go back through the list and apply label to the books you have reviewed. You may apply multiple labels to a post, but please don't go nuts.

I'm always open to new suggestions about how to make this website more interesting. I recently watched a video of a conference on blogging that my dad sent me that had some pretty interesting ideas. Please send me any ideas you may get while watching it.

“How to Build a High Traffic Blog without Killing Yourself”

It's hard to believe that we've been posting book reviews here for over a year now. There are now over 100 books on this website! Thanks to all those that have contributed. Please let me know if you know anyone that might be interested in writing reviews. Send me their email address and I'll send them a permissions invite.

Welcome to the Experiment

First of all, let me make this clear. Anyone can write a post. I hope that each "Contributor" will contribute for the benefit of the group.

"Boyintheframe" hit the nail right on the head. I can go elsewhere to find "the lists" of classic books. I read many of the classics in high school. The read-a-thon continues in college. Like he said, reading those books can be beneficial for their depth and depiction of the human experience.

But this is summer. And what are "summers" really for? In my opinion summers are kind of like Sundays. We take a break from the things that we have to do, to focus on the spiritual things that we (hopefully) want to do. Both realms of projects have value if we let them.

So. Back to the experiment. I want to find those books that still have merit but don't make it on the lists. And who better to ask then my close friends and family?

Now, as you've probably noticed, I've written up several reviews of books that I've read this summer. I'm still waiting for most of my friends and family to do their part. I honestly don't want a senior thesis for every book. I just want a basic synopsis of the book (hopefully without spoilers) and what you thought of it. If the book was fantastic, tell me it was fantastic. If it was terrible, tell me it was terrible. My hope is that we can all find a book or two that we wouldn't have otherwise read. I don't expect life changing events, but hey, if it happens...congrats!

Let's look forward a few years. I fully intend to write up a little review of every book I read from now on. And if everyone was writing? Think of the possibilities!

What's in a Name?

So...I'm beginning to think that we can come up with a better name for this blog. Best title gets bragging rights. Post your ideas here.

Authors Welcome

It appears that Blogspot is going to limit our number of authors to 100 persons. If you want to become one of these dignified writers, send me an email at lindsay.jacob@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list.

The Blogspot Address

I suppose this blog is an effort to revive my spring semester at the University of Utah. I took a medieval literature class from Brian Kubarycz. The structure of the class was simple. Each week we read articles from various authors. We discussed the material in class. Our weekly assignment was to post a 500 word review of something that we found interesting in the readings to an online blog site. We then had to post two short comments about the responses of our classmates. This was the first time that I had had a class of this nature. I naturally felt some discomfort with this vague assignment but I quickly made myself at home.

Rather than just see these posts as another assignment to be completed, I began to perceive that they were an opportunity to think more deeply about any given aspect of a text and then receive constructive feedback. It became a richly fulfilling experience. I hope to take other classes with Professor Kubarycz.

But, finals are over, grades are now available, and I am without a class or a professor to fulfill my need for engaging intellectual conversation. For now at least…this is where you all come in.

In order for this to work, I need four things. First, I need a professor. Second, I need a class. Third, I need a text. Forth, I need a website where we can post our comments.

A professor. It has crossed my mind to talk to Brian about continuing as the administrator for his website and continue providing texts to read. However, he told us repeatedly that he was burned out and desperately needed a break. And well, as much as I love reading things like St. Augustine’s Confessions and Machiavelli’s The Prince, I firmly believe that summer is a time for reading all those books that you wanted to read but couldn’t because you had to spend all your time reading something assigned. I’ve come to the conclusion that I could sit in for Professor Kubarycz for now. Don’t expect my comments to be nearly as impressive. Don’t expect my response time to be as quick. Don’t expect me to write you any letters of recommendation. The only difference between me and you is that it’s my name on the contact info for this website.

A class. It’s hard to teach a course without participation from the students. It’s amazing that several of my professors still seem to think that it’s possible and/or effective. I admire Professor Kubarycz for the value that he placed on the opinions of his students. He was always willing to discuss whatever it was that his student found intriguing. He did his best to cater the course texts to the interests of his students. I hope to do the same. I invite anyone to participate as long as they keep their comments clean and constructive.

A text. I believe that an attempt to have an intellectual discussion without referencing the brilliant thoughts of our predecessors is nearly impossible. There have been relatively few breakthrough discoveries. Literature, technology, medicine, music, art, etc. is one long story of small variations. Any text has holes and hooks. Holes need to be filled with additional information. Hooks allow us to connect our thoughts to those of the greats. I welcome both here. Feel free to comment on Rand or Rowling, Steinbeck or Silverstein. I welcome your book reviews and I welcome your analysis of one particular line from Paradise Lost. I hope that you will provide additional insights to the texts that we have all read several times, while also showing us valuable books that we may never have heard of. This is your sandbox. Play nice and don’t make any messes.

A meeting point. All of the posting for my medieval literature class took place on www.livejournal.com. I considered setting up residence there but they would have charged me a monthly fee to have the same level of control over the website that my professor had. My second choice was the “notes” application on Facebook. The benefit of that locale is that everyone is already there. The downside is that Facebook limits one’s ability to include digital media in posts, the inclusion of which adds significantly to the overall richness of the blog. Blogspot offers us the increased flexibility. What I’ve decided to do is to post my comments in both locations until we can attract a following on Blogspot.

Cheers.