Yes, a year ago yesterday I posted my first entry (or did I enter my first post?, the semantics are unclear to me). 93 posts or entries later, I\u2019m still here, which comes as a surprise to me, with enough energy, I believe, to go on for another year at least. <\/p>\n
Or, rather, it\u2019s not quite a matter of energy but of badly needing an outlet to vent the happiness (35%) and the growing frustrations (65%) that teaching (English) Literature brings me every day after 20 years in the profession (another anniversary this week). Yesterday, I came across an ex-student, now teaching 10 to 12-year-old students, and when I started telling her about the miseries of the university under the current economic crisis she asked me \u201cbut you still like it?\u201d Sure, that\u2019s the point: I like teaching so much I must write this blog to go on. If I didn\u2019t like it, if it were just a job and not a career, I would not bother. The blog keeps me (half)sane. Otherwise, I\u2019ve open the window and scream.<\/p>\n
When I contacted other bloggers in a similar vein (see the links to your right…), we all went through the same questions: Is there a point in writing a blog in the age of Twitter? Isn\u2019t a blog just a public diary (for narcissistic writers)? Is there any one out there? What\u2019s the desirable frequency? Is a blog a hobby or more work?\t I don\u2019t use Twitter and I worry about the way the institutions we work for are forcing us in that direction and also to use Facebook, as I don\u2019t want to participate in the commercial frenzy they have unleashed. Anyway, I don\u2019t think Twitter can carry much serious thinking at that limited number of characters per message; blogs, I believe, are great to train yourself to think in greater depth (um, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve managed any deep thinking here, but at least I\u2019ve tried). A blog, yes, is a bit narcissistic but one also feels vulnerable and exposed, so one thing compensates for the other. And this one is a hobby, but, then, I\u2019ve never known how to separate my profession from my main hobby, which is reading. Often, I have to stop myself from writing too much for instant publication is a constant temptation.<\/p>\n
I know there are some people out there beyond the handful of friends who\u2019ve left comments (thanks!). Jos\u00e9 \u00c1ngel Garc\u00eda Landa tells me that after 4 years keeping his blog Vanity Fea alive he hasn\u2019t really managed to generate the expected debate. My aims are more modest (though, yes, it\u2019s great to be ambitious). Who, after all, would like to debate how we teach English Literature, except a handful of professionals too pressed for time to send in comments? I\u2019m just happy if anything in my first 52,000 words has inspired anyone to read a good book, see a nice film, check a great web, understand a little better what teachers go through, and love (English) Literature a little more. Thanks!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yes, a year ago yesterday I posted my first entry (or did I enter my first post?, the semantics are unclear to me). 93 posts or entries later, I\u2019m still here, which comes as a surprise to me, with enough energy, I believe, to go on for another year at least. Or, rather, it\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}