Like I wrote
yesterday, I am teaching a blogging class. "How do you teach blogging?" you might ask.
I get that a lot. My short answer is: Like any other writing class. We read each other's writing, read, and talk about writing.
The longer answer is that I had never taught a blogging class before, and the students had never taken a blogging class before, and some didn't even blog. One blueprint comes from NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen's chat on best practices for teaching a blogging class. In Rosen's terms, we started "offstage," reading about blogging, reading blogs, and generally getting a feel for writing online.
Students also read, like, real books. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging introduced us to the practicalities, and Scott Rosenberg's Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters provided historical heft. Some of us started with practice blogs, while others dove in right away.
One of the most successful assignments, I think, was to have students guest-blog for each other's blogs for one week — just as I am doing right now, and have in the past for places like The Best American Poetry Blog and the Linebreak literary journal. One student with a site dedicated to student life at Schenectady County Community College guest-blogged at Abby's Web, dedicated to the CBS procedural drama NCIS, for example. The pairings succeeded.
Perhaps inspired by that, I asked my students to ask me interview questions for my guest blog stay here. I have linked to their blogs after their names. Give the students a thrill and visit their blogs!
What is the most questionable item of food you have eaten (i.e., spoiled or unidentifiable)? What were the circumstances behind eating it?
—Mary Catherine Owen, Dissecting the Smiling Goat: Reviews and Commentary on NBC's Ed
A sausage served on cardboard, somewhere in East Germany, December 31, 1989.
If you could be a member of any '80s hair metal band, which would it be and why?
— Mary Catherine Owen, Dissecting the Smiling Goat: Reviews and Commentary on NBC's Ed
Excellent question. Britny Fox. My reasons? They're from the Philadelphia area, which is my ancestral homeland. "Long Way to Love," the band's first single, still screams out of my car stereo, not to mention "Girlschool." And lastly, at an opening weekend screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in February 1987, I sat behind two members of Britny Fox. They waited for the end credits to roll, since that was when we'd all be able to hear Dokken's newest single, "Dream Warriors."
What was it like waiting for your first review?
— Mary Hall, Abby's Web: A Fan's Investigation inside NCIS
Sheer fricking terror. And dread.
In a recent episode of NCIS, there was a power outage. That loss of power resulted in the team members having to do everything by hand. My question is: has there been a case when you were working on something and the power went out and you forgot to save your work?
— Mary Hall, Abby's Web: A Fan's Investigation inside NCIS
What was the last thing that made you flatulent or gassy?
— Dana Cardona, Mundane Mischief
Probably Porto Rico coffee and the vanilla-flavored Activia shake I had this morning.
Favorite hygiene ritual and why?
— Dana Cardona, Mundane Mischief
I love to pluck my nose hairs with a good set of tweezers, preferably after a shower.
How did you last wet your clothes (examples: spills, bodily secretion [yours or otherwise], etc.)?
— Dana Cardona, Mundane Mischief
I peed my pants in center field when I played Catholic Youth Organization baseball.
Are you currently on any medication?
— Andrew Nolan, The Grumpy RA
Yes. I take synthroid, Celexa, and Wellbutrin. And Advil, most of the time.
My son thought it would be cool to ask you:
1. What you thought about rainbows.
2. Whether you've ever painted your face.
3. If you could be an animal, which animal would you be and why?
4. Have you ever talked to someone who didn't respond?
5. What makes you cry?
6. What are you doing to avoid getting H1N1?
7. Do you secretly enjoy watching your daughter's TV programs?
— Kristine Moore, My SCCC Daily
Your son is a very inquisitive chap, isn't he, Kristine? Here are my answers:
1. I do and have, but not enough.
2. I did once, Halloween 1989, in a well-intentioned, albeit ill-fated homage to Public Enemy.
3. I would probably be a flying squirrel. Because they're really cool.
4. All the time.
5. Lots of things. Here's a couple. The birth of my two little daughters. Early R.E.M. and Franz Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin.
6. I got a shot. And it hurt.
7. I can't hate on Elmo and Sesame Street.
How do you feel about the recent passing of infomercial titan Billy Mays?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
Didn't feel much, actually. But I do find it odd that many infomercials in which he appears are still airing.
If you had to wear high heels or ladies' rainboots for three weeks, which would you choose and why? Pick wisely.
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
I consulted my wife, and she says I should say Giraudon. I would probably wear these, because they're really trampy.
Do you have any terrible, embarrassing, or otherwise unbecoming personality traits you wish you could change?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
I find most of my traits to be terrible, embarrassing, or unbecoming, most of the time. If I had to pick, I would say my writerly insecurities.
Who is your favorite Philip?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
Phillip Lopate, followed by Philip Glass, and Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy.
Have you ever wanted to have a physical defect because of the attention it would garner?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
I have a definite NC-17 answer, but my G-rated answer is extremely large biceps. Like, Popeye-big.
Do you think, metaphorically, you operate by potential or kinetic energy?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
Definitely kinetic. I don't feel like there's any potential from which to draw, I am a kinetic-dependent being.
How many deaths have you witnessed in your life?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
None. Unless you count Van Halen III's career.
If you could be a blood-borne pathogen, which would you be and why?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
Gotta go with syphilis.
Do you prefer the texture of glass or plastic?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
Plastic because of The Graduate.
How do you feel about yacht owners?
— Lizzie Malvicini, The Walmart Novels
I wish I knew more of them and could stay on their yachts for extended free stays so I could provide a well-informed opinion.
Is being inappropriate age-specific, or can anyone be inappropriate at any age? Or doesn't whether it is truly considered inappropriate depend on the receiver of the inappropriate action? I mean, if you think you're being inappropriate and the person observing you doesn't, that means you're not really being inappropriate, right? Therefore, how can you really tell anyone How to Be Inappropriate?
— Heather Dingman, The Art of Adaptation: A Window into the World of One Woman with Cerebral Palsy
Heather, yours is my favorite question because it includes the title of my new book. So good on you for that.
To answer your question: for me, my working definition of inappropriate includes being so comfortable in one's own shoes and skin that one can do or say anything one wants. It's the Platonic ideal of misbehavior.
The catch here, some might say, is that if one is allowed to do or say anything, and no one is offended or takes offense, then what's the point? I no longer think that whether inappropriateness is measured by how much someone is offended is really the point of inappropriateness, as I see it. Or whether there needs to be a recipient of such improprieties. Rather, it's the freedom to do or say anything you want, to see how far one can take a thought or deed, to explore boundaries.
What has been the most embarrassing public reading you've ever done? Was it embarrassing because the crowd didn't respond well, or because you had an incident on stage? What happened?
— Tony Geras, And I'll Form the Head
That's easy. I once had a reading in a laundromat in San Francisco. I was sorely out of place, and people talked all the way through. I didn't have either the interpersonal stamina or the energy to shout above the din of washing machines or the hippies yapping outside.
What time of day do you write the best? Some people write better when they first wake up, some work better late at night and early morning.
— Tony Geras, And I'll Form the Head
I like writing in the morning. Once the day starts, everything else takes over, all the real-life things. That being said, like many writers, I long for days upon days of uninterrupted silence and a cleared social schedule.