The 150th anniversary of John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry is next Friday, October 16th. There are a range of activities planned in commemoration. See more from the HF Park page and one from the Visitor’s Bureau.

I smell a War coming …

Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 5 November 1859 (Library of Congress)

The Park has announced three Ranger-led hikes in March. Of particular note is

Sunday, 22nd, Nicodemus Heights – This battlefield hike will begin near Tour Stop # 2, The North Wood, at 1:15 pm. The hike will focus on the role played by the Confederate artillery on the northern end of the field, including a stop at Nicodemus Heights, which is seldom visited private property.

The key here is the private property part. This hike only happens once or twice a year. I think I’ll make this one …

A blanket is as important to a child as a hobby is to an adult …

Wisdom or humor?

Linus’ philosophy of the adult security blanket from a Peanuts strip, republished 1/25/2009.

Santa Claus as Thomas Nast pictured him in Harper’s Weekly in 1865

All the best to you and yours this Season and through the New Year. I’m also thinking of our troops in harm’s way this Christmas Eve, and look forward to having them back safe and soon.

Is blogging evolving, or am I just looking for validation of my own tendency to post less often?

In between the slow bloggers and the rapid-fire ones, there is a vast middle, hundreds of thousands of writers who are not trying to attract advertising or buzz but do want to reach like-minded colleagues and friends. These people have been the bedrock of the [blogging] genre since its start, yet recently there has been a sea change in their output: They are increasingly turning to slow blogging, in practice if not in name.

Go see Dan Cohen for a thoughtful examination of (scholarly) blogging and a pointer to Sharon Otterman’s New York Times piece quoted above. I like his take that

… personal content management systems (what blogging platforms really are) are, despite the genre's early, unpromising forms, perfectly suited for serious thought and scholarship. With blogging, there is no requirement for frequent posting, and I subscribe to many scholarly blogs that have infrequent, but substantive, posts. Put us in the slow blogging camp…

I like the personal publishing concept, and departing from the stereotype of blog as vanity outlet.