Update/Explanation about this Blog
*****UPDATE - November 16th - I'm Back!!!! *****p.s. for all you myspacers: be my friend!!!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=81751962
As many regular readers have noticed, I have not been posting and keeping up with the latest. I have received some friendly queries as to why. Because of the same time issues that have partially kept me from blogging, I haven’t even been able to respond to them.
How many times have I been sitting around with my buddies and mentioned something about Jerry or the Dead that I have read and been asked, “Where did you read that?” Not only could I not remember, but we couldn’t even find anything about it on the Net. The Grateful Dead come up in news stories all the time. But most of these are scrubbed from the web after a few months.
So I had an idea to post all of these articles (as they happen) on a blog. Not only could a Deadhead go to one site to find out what’s been happening, but the blog would be an archive of news stories that could be referenced at a later time. My blog has been successful in this, as I have noticed many people find it after doing a web search on a particular topic.
The number one reason why I haven’t kept up with it lately is because of time. I only have computer access at work and when I volunteer at the library. I usually spent my lunch hour working on this blog. Lately, work has been very hectic and I have worked through most of my lunches. That means no time for blogging.
But I have also taken a break so that I may figure out what direction I want to take. I have received negative feedback for posting (in full) articles written by others and posted elsewhere. Even though I always reference where I found it, who wrote it, and link to the original post, I have received criticism that I am posting other people’s work.
I would love to be able to write original stories every day for the blog. But since I haven’t had the time to even reprint articles, I certainly haven’t had time to re-write anything. I have thought about posting a paragraph or two of each story and then linking to the original source for the rest. But, as I mentioned before, these stories are often removed after a while and one of the original purposes of this blog was to be an archive of Dead news and information.
I am proud of being a Deadhead nerd and an amateur Grateful Dead historian. I have also enjoyed being a part of the small but passionate online Dead community. This blog has truly been an important stop on the "Shakedown Street" in the virtual "Dead lot" online. I really want to come up with a way I can maintain a quality site without upsetting people, seeming to plagiarize, and doing it while I should be doing my job. I expect to have more time soon, so now I just need to figure out what the best format for this blog should be. I’m open to (kind) suggestions. PEACE!
-SLC Library Boy
posted by SLC Library Boy at Friday, October 27, 2006
8 Comments:
Hey, we've missed you and I'm in a bit of a time crunch right now myself as I type this but how about just changing the name of your blog to
GRATEFUL DEAD NEWS LINKS or something like that. Or then again, you can just not worry about someone being bothered by it because if they really read your blog they would see that everything is linked.
Peace...................
I love what you do and understand when LIFE gets in the way.
advice: don't dwell on negative feedback.
hopefully your direction leads you back to providing 'one stop shopping' for dead-related news!!!
Well I hope you can find the odd moment to continue!
Whoever is making those comments does not understand the concept of blogging ("web logging"). Yours is a straight-forward blog with a remarkable focus on a topic that many of us find interesting. Please do keep it up whenever you find the time!
I know what it means to have life get in the way, man. Here in Ohio, working families are sick of all this politics crap. Out-of-work families are even more angry.
I am laid off two years now, so I have a lot of time on my hands. The video I've posted at YouTube has all real headlines from Ohio newspapers. I started with a photo of the Lima Correctional Insitute (2:24), which Taft shut down and put one of the final nails in the coffin of our local economy. From there, it kind of just produced itself.
I apply for jobs when they advertise, but there just aren't enough to go around. My wife works for just above minimum wage, so we are really hurting. We lost our house. Today we rent, but we'll soon have to move to a small apartment in a worse neighborhood. My son is in first grade, but we don't know how we'll ever afford to give him what he deserves. He's a smart and happy kid and I cannot even sleep at night, thinking about all this.
We need jobs with real benefits and my boy deserves to go to college. I don't see ANY politician helping any of us stuck out here in Hell. I think Issue 2 (minimum wage hike) and Issue 3 (slots to pay for my boy's college) make sense, and I like the fact that we can do it without entrusting any more dough to these lousy politicians - especially the Republicans in charge in Columbus.
So, up late with insomnia, I made this video while my wife and boy slept in the next room. When I was stuck for what to do next, all I had to do was open the bedroom door quietly and look at them, sleeping soundly. I'd get choked up, then mad, then hit the computer again.
Please know I borrowed this song - "Puttin' People on the Moon" - from the Drive By Truckers. Many people emailing me compliment me on my musical talent, but it is just my musical taste (or I'd be working!). I put a link to Amazon on my base Web site for the video - www.OHenoughalready.com - so maybe the band won't get mad at me for using the song without paying. I'm not trying to sell music for them, as some Republican bloggers have accused.
I am also afraid of payback for this video, so I do not use my real name. Here in little Elida, OH, the religious right seems to control just about everything. If they knew, I couldn't get pizza delivered - even if I could afford it - and my boy's upcoming birthday party would be a lonely event. That's how they do.
My first contribution to YouTube is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlemtt3_jKw Again, thanks for watching. Working families are trapped here in Lima, but we still have one important thing: HOPE.
And don't worry about the negative feedback, man. I love your blog.
Best wishes,
AugustWest06 (not my real name)
Elida, Ohio (my real town)
***
Thanks,
August West
Elida, OH
"But I'll get back on my feet someday... The good Lord willing, if He says I may... 'cause I know the life I'm livin's no good. I'll get a new start... live the life I should. I'll get up and fly away... I'll get up and fly away... fly away..." - GARCIA/HUNTER, "Wharf Rat"
I've truly enjoyed this site and check every morning for updated news on the Boys and extended family. I'm glad to have an explanation. I was concerned you were no longer able to work on the site. Keep up the good work, certainly one of the better Dead sites.
I know the feeling, Bro...
I'm there too...
Thanks for everything.
Peace,
=RD=
It's not stealing when you properly credit the source, which you do. I had some of the same charges levied aginst me at AdPulp. But that site is meant to be a daily digest of the ad news, not a place for my original writing, athough I do some of that too. Bottom line, make it what YOU want it to be. You want to build an archive? Excellent! Your audience will find you and the detractors will go whine up someone else's tree.
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