Inspired by Mike:

By the way: lolcatz for the uninitiated.

A couple of projects I've worked on are now live:

1. My article "Attracting Readers: Sex and Audience in the Blogosphere" is now live in the new issue of Scholar & Feminist Online. The issue has a companion blog for discussion of the articles.

While I stand by what I wrote, I am somewhat concerned that Daniel Drezner comes off sounding like a bad guy. That isn't actually true at all; he is very nice and collegial, and I reference a couple of posts on his weblog simply as examples of discourse.

2. A Conversation: From "They Call Me Doctor?" to Tenure is live in the Professional Development section of Computers and Composition Online. Cheryl Ball and Kristin Arola composed the piece, but I am one of the people interviewed. My contributions can be found here and here, but I encourage you to interact with the whole thing.

Sometime late this afternoon, the baby cardinals fledged. It's stupid, but I'm so sad about it. I can't believe they grew up and left so quickly. I got some footage of them earlier today; this is the best video, though it's not all that great:

I wish I could just see them flying around so I'd know they're okay. [Edited to add: or hopping around, as I've now read they apparently do "to gain strength and coordination."]

Jonathan and I are putting together a panel on civic literacy. He and I are going to be talking specifically about the connections (and disconnects) between blogging and civic literacy, but if you wanted to talk about civic/political literacy independently of blogging or any particular technology, that would be great too. We need at least one person, preferably more. Remember, the deadline is this Friday, so let me know soon if you'd like to join us. clancy.ratliff at gmail.

Today Jonathan and I watched game four in the Suns/Lakers playoff series. Of this player, Amare Stoudemire:

A white sportscaster said, "He is a beast out there!"

I said to Jonathan, "WHAT? Isn't that a little racist?"

He said, "Yeah, they can be pretty racist."

A few minutes pass, and what sounded like the same sportscaster exclaimed, "He is a surgeon out there!"

I had looked away from the TV for a second and missed the reference, but I said, "Hey! Who was he talking about just now? 'He is a surgeon out there'?"

Jonathan said, "Steve Nash."

Viz.

Two metaphors for athletic performance by two brilliant athletes: beast, and surgeon. Would a White guy be called a beast? Would a Black guy be called a surgeon? I don't know, but I have a feeling that the Imus utterance was only the tip of the rhetorical iceberg, and I'm going to start listening more closely to sportscasters in the future.

1. Don't Let It Bring You Down -- Annie Lennox
2. Come Rain or Come Shine -- Liza Minnelli
3. I've Got You Under My Skin -- Diana Krall
4. Do Your Duty -- Bessie Smith
5. Twisted -- Joni Mitchell
6. In the Quiet Morning -- Joan Baez
7. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat -- Joni Mitchell
8. What's Going On -- Marvin Gaye
9. Young Love -- Air Supply [I knew it!]
10. Freshmen -- The Verve Pipe

Finally, everyone should check out and contribute to Talk 20, a blog set up by Bedford/St. Martin's for responses to Todd Taylor's documentary Take 20.

Feel sorry for me:

It came upon me all of a sudden when I was washing my hands earlier, the lines "in my life, there's been heartache and pain; I don't know if I can face it again..." I thought, what is that song? Then I focused and remembered the chorus. Do you think this means I'm a Cylon sleeper agent?

Are there any simple ways to increase the speed and memory of my iBook? Maybe I've downloaded too many applications, but every little THING I do causes the machine to drag. I'm seeing that rainbow pinwheel constantly. If I open Word while I have Firefox open, I just get up and get myself a drink of water and a snack, then by the time I get back to the computer, it might be ready to go. I'm willing to delete software if I have to. Also, how do I get to a list that tells me which applications load at startup?