On Egypt and one or two other things . . .

This link expands on my recent comments in class about the situation in Egypt. I offer it to you as an example of how your blog can convey all kinds of information from diverse sources and organize this information into a clear and powerful argument. (My argument is of course debatable but I think I have made it strongly and compellingly.)

It took me only an hour to find the first half dozen sources given at this post. But took about 15 hours to find all the other sources and to organize them into an opinion piece (or "op ed" piece) that describes what I see as one of the dominant historical trends of our time.  I have revised the language of this post at least 20 times. Every time I read the darn thing, I always find little errors and also ways to clarify and strengthen it. 

Only a very few of us are born chess or violin or baseball players. And sorry folks, but only a few of us are born writers. I have met a couple of them in my life and believe me what they can do on a first draft amazes me. So but the rest of us, myself included, have to work at it. That said, practice does make perfect, and when you really get into it, practice does becomes a pleasure in itself. How so?

Well you begin to feel that you are in touch with something special in yourself, an important part of yourself to which writing - and writing alone - gives you access.  That's how poets and novelists feel. And that's how, if we are lucky and hardworking, all of us will feel at some point this semester.  

But then comes something much bigger and more enduring: the reward - the thrill - of seeing something in print - something YOU wrote - that goes way, way, way beyond any ability you thought you had to think deeply and profoundly. But there it sits, deep and profound, waiting for ready for others to read it. And it sits there simply because you worked hard to get your thoughts and ideas down on paper (or at your blog) clearly and compellingly. 

Anyone who wants to do so is welcome to use my blog format for their papers as opposed to the standard hardcopy paper format. In fact I encourage it. I think that for the purposes of English 102 the blog format is a better way to convey information. So feel free to use it. And now I am running late for my 2:00 pm class.