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Blog as Personal Archive

Written by Murray Browne from The Book Shopper.  

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As one who has been blogging for over a decade, musing about books and book culture to a handful of readers, several beneficial aspects have emerged over the years. No, it’s not riches or fame, but I’ve discovered that personal blogging has provided me with a diary of what I have been reading and thinking about since 2008.

The blog has evolved over the years. It began as a promotional tool for my book of essays, The Book Shopper: A Life in Review published by Paul Dry Books in 2009. For a while I even kept a calendar of book activities and did some reportage of author events here in the Atlanta area where I live. I saw some good authors over the years, but then my interests shifted. I broadened my scope to the current musings format, which gives me more leeway to come up with various topics to write for my biweekly postings.

BookArt_7.0_huotSome of the postings fall into categories like book reviews or bookstores, or some of my favorite subjects like baseball and military history. I also prefer to read older books and lesser-known titles. (Who needs another spin on a bestseller?) Other noteworthy categories are Books-as-Art-as-Books and the MARTA Book Club – a series of 34 postings where on my daily commute I logged the titles of books that people were reading while on the trains of the city’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

Using the Typelist feature on Typepad, I also keep a running list of what I have been reading throughout the year and display it on the sidebar. I have recently added a new page of “Suggested Readings” so I can keep track of what bookish friends have recommended. (If nothing else, the blog provides a handy jog to my memory, which I can access through my phone on a moment’s notice.)

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Because the blog has more of personal take on subjects instead an authoritative one, I have been able to combine events – such as vacations and trips – into postings and travelogues. For example, over the years I have visited bookstores in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Oaxaca, Amsterdam, Nova Scotia, Prague, and the Greek isle of Santorini to name but a few. Accompanying on these excursions is my longtime partner Denise who is always willing to pose as a book browser or snap an “action” picture of me standing in front of a bookstore.

Blog subjects sometimes include other family members too. For example, I wrote about going with my younger daughter Bonnie to the Rickwood Baseball Classic in Birmingham, Alabama to honor the Willie Mays biography I was reading (Mays played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues in 1948). When the Kansas City Royals played in the World Series in 2014, I wrote about the Kansas native, baseball writer Bill James, reminiscing about the time I lived in the Sunflower State. It included a photograph of my mother pushing my older daughter Cynthia in a swing wearing a toddler-sized George Brett uniform (a future Hall of Famer). Thoughts about my father have been included in numerous postings as well, particularly as I reflected on his service in World War II. All this flooded back to me after I chatted GlennPicture briefly with historian Rick Atkinson, the author of The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 at a small reading at my local library.

While flipping through my 450+ musings, I noticed that I should be a little more diligent about assigning categories to these postings. This can go a long way to help me find specific things I wrote about. Moreover, it has made me more aware of how topics like certain writers or themes have reoccurred and how my thinking has evolved over the past decade. This digital “paper trail” is like a diary of sorts, but with the added challenge of making it interesting, since I know others are going to be reading it.

A final advantage of the blog archive is that once I’ve taken the time to record my thoughts and observations and add some photos and artwork, I will sometimes stumble upon new opportunities to send that link out to connect with others. An informal conversation or a serendipitous article I’ve come across online reminds me of something I’ve already thought and written about. A quick follow-up is a convenient cut-and -paste away.

While there are rarely riches and fame in blogging, connecting to friends, family members, subscribers, and even oneself can be reward enough.

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Typepad Interviews TaxProf Blog

TaxProf Blog Interview

With tax season just around the corner we thought it would be great to interview one of our prolific tax bloggers Paul L. Caron, Professor of Law and Dean at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.  TaxProf Blog is a very popular tax blog, Dean Caron uses his years of knowledge of taxes to give insight into the latest news. He took a few moments to share with us (and our readers) his blogs and his thoughts about Typepad. 

Can you tell us about yourself and your blog? Is it just you writing your blog or do you have a team that helps? 

I am a former law school tax professor and am now a law school dean. I started TaxProf Blog on April 15 (appropriately for a tax blog), 2004. I do the blog myself, with several law professors contributing items every week.

Why did you start your blog? Can you tell us the back story to TaxProf? 

It was the outgrowth of an email listserv I created for over 300 tax law professors on April 15, 1995. The listserv and blog have helped create a vibrant community of tax professors who share information and ideas about teaching and research.

Scheduling your post is a great way to stay ahead of posting. Learn how to do it here. 

What is your process for writing a blog post?

I do most of my posts over the weekend and schedule them for publication during the week, so blogging does not interfere with my job as dean.

How do you find fresh topics to write about?

About 1/3 of the content comes over the transom from folks; the other 2/3 comes from various feeds with tax and legal education information.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to your blog?

My wife was on a bus going to work and a guy overheard her talking with a friend about my blog. He introduced himself and said he worked for the IRS and follows my blog.

What is your favorite feature in Typepad?

The stability of the platform.

What other programs/software do you use to help with your blog?

RSS feeds from various sources.

What is the most important thing you have learned from blogging?

That it is not for everyone. I formed a network of over 50 blogs in other areas of law, but most of them have not taken off because the editors were not as committed to their blogs as I am to mine.

You have a few minutes, what is your go to tip about blogging?

Post, post, and post some more. A daily diet of posts help builds a following.

What blogs do you follow?

All of the leading tax and legal education blogs.

What is one goal for your blog in the next 6 months?

Continue to expand its reach (traffic).

Who or what inspires you to keep blogging? 

I feel I am making a real contribution to tax law and legal education.

With more people starting a blog, what is one piece of tax or legal advice would you give bloggers? 

Pay your taxes!

Thank you Dean Caron for taking the time to speak with us about your blog. We hope this interview will help with your goal. 

You can follow TaxProf Blog many different ways. To view new posts in your Typepad account, you can follow TaxProf Blog Typepad profile. New posts will show on your Typepad Dashboard under Recent Activity. You can also follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin. If you like updates to show in your inbox, you can click on the Subscribe button on the top right of the page. 

 


A Few Of Our Favorite Blogs!

Valentine's Day is here and it has given us all the feels! We want to show everyone our team's favorite blogs. There are many reasons our team loves these blogs so check them out and see if you will fall in love too!

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PP

Positively Present
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HawkUrban Hawks
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Ideas in food

Ideas In Food
Get inspired for your next meal.

 

DogCarolina Mountain Dog
A "blogazine" for those that love dogs and the Carolina Mountains.

 

GDPGreensboro Daily Photo
Showcasing Greensboro, North Carolina and the surrounding area.

 

Kitchen EncountersKitchen Encounters
Sharing over 30 years of culinary expertise, foodie opinion, and experiences.

 

EDOPEarth Science Picture of the Day
EPOD highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives.

 

BLBritish Library Untold Lives Blog
Sharing stories from the past, worldwide.

 

Now that you have seen the Typepad blogs we love, let us know the Typepad blogs you love to follow!


Seen On Typepad: Lotus In The Mud

Seen On Typepad

 

Seen on Typepad highlights new and interesting posts from our community of Typepad bloggers, enjoy!

image from lotusinthemud.typepad.com

From: Lotus In The Mud

A little while ago I answered a knock on my door and found myself in conversation with two Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I told them I was Buddhist.  They immediately asked if I was a religious Buddhist or a philosophical Buddhist.  I replied, without hesitation...

>>Read More at Lotus In The Mud