I entered the blogosphere with the vague notion that having a blog before you have tenure might not be the smartest thing in the world, given that my paranoia about What Other People Think Of Me is not entirely baseless in a field where one's career prospects have a lot to do with What Other People Think Of You (and of what field is this not true?). But I decided that the prospective benefits outweighed the risks, so I plunged ahead, at the same time keeping in mind that some discretion is called for, since I'm casting my thoughts out into cyberspace where anyone could see them.

(Adding a site meter has only enhanced my paranoia. Whereas a well-adjusted person would check their stats and think, "Cool, I got a hit from Michigan," I look at them as evidence of an international stalking conspiracy [I WISH I were that interesting! Wait a minute, no, I don't.] -- "Why in the world is someone from CALVIN COLLEGE checking my blog?" Who are these people?)

So I was gratified to encounter this bit of pro-blogging propaganda in the People magazine of the academic world, the Chronicle of Higher Education. I was also pleased that I did not encounter the two instances of anti-blog warnings to which it was a response when they were initially published, since that probably would have caused me undue anxiety. On a similar note, I appreciated Jenell's musings on boundaries in blogging. I guess the base line is that we must take responsibility for what we say, even in the semi-anonymity of the blogosphere. But I also believe that honesty, and even a bit of vulnerability, can be a form of serving one another (as Jenell's posts have been a salve for my soul over the past year and a half), so I will speak, even at the risk of mis-speaking.