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because we’re
here. roll the bones
seriously though, why have a
website? why blog?
in answering this, i am instantly
reminded of a lovely passage belonging to nietzsche (para 93 of the gay science):
"But then why do
you write?" A: I am not one of those who
think with a quill in hand, much less one of those who abandon themselves to
their passions right before the open inkwell, sitting on their chair and staring
at the paper. I am annoyed and ashamed by all writing; to me writing is nature's
call -- to speak of it even in simile is repugnant to me. B: But why, then, do
you write? A: Well, my friend, I say this in confidence: until now I have found
no other means of getting rid of my thoughts. --B: And why do you want to get
rid of them? --A: Why do I want to? Do I want to? I have to. --B: Enough!
Enough!
in what could almost be described as an existential crisis, i have been asking myself
why/whether to host a personal website for exactly the same amount of time that i have been sitting on iankerr.ca. i registered the site
right around the first bong of the new millennium; it has taken me
six years to execute. when i bought the domain, i had no clue why or what i
would use it for. i confess that i mostly did it so that no one else would
cybersquat. (i already lost the dot-com to that pesky photographer). it comes as no surprise, then, that my plans for a full blown
website moved slowly and went through several iterations. remember back in 2000
how big-a-deal flash was? one of
my former students, ryan singh, made me a totally wicked flash-based site with
looping iankerr drum fills and lots of pizzazz. it was great to look at (though,
as we learned about flash animation in general, not over and over and over
again!). but the site had no point.
inspired by my friend michael geist (who basically said: "just do it.
its purpose will emerge."), i eventually clarified my position on a
number of items:
- overpopulation. to carry on from nietzsche, there is
already too much warm excrement populating cyberspace. if i was to further
proliferate, i had to promise myself that i would not radiate more heat than
light!
- audience. am i writing for me or other? even
if you get past the idea that people might actually want to read your work –
would they *really* want to
tune-in to read *my* work on a
regular basis? i settled on an answer that worked for me. i would
build my site with the aim of further engaging my students and for people
already interested in my academic research outputs. up till recently, i have
been using yahoo! groups and my university website, both of which suck big
time! with my own website, i knew i could get rid of all the cheesy advertising, the clunky look and
feel, and could promise my visitors a privacy policy that actually worked in
their favour. my site could do a better job delivering-up my immediate goals:
teaching pedagogy and access to knowledge. although i hope to say meaningful
stuff from time to time on topics about which i have some expertise or
experience or to express things on my mind, i will generally leave it to my pals
in the US legal academy to play the
pundits.
- tone. my
teaching style is informal but my writing style is (usually) formal. which
should it be for the website? given my immediate goals, i am opting for an
informal tone.
- regularity vs insight. too many of the posts that i see
online these days read like they are there to fulfill some daily quota. i have
decided to post only when i have something meaningful to say. sure, it risks
inattention but i am not doing this to seek attention. (hmm, really?!)
enough pontificating. its time to get out there and rock, and roll the bones. so welcome to my site. i
hope it serves its purposes.
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Canada Research Chair in 
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