Okay, so I'm kind of a geek, but bear with me:
I have all of these regular readers - some I know by name, others I do not, some I know a little bit about, some I have actually gotten together with, etc. - but I thought it would be fun and interesting to open up this forum a little bit.
I want to institute a series which I will call, in my geeky splendor: "EXPERT DAY".
Everyone out there is an expert in SOMETHING.
Be it: making the perfect cheese cake, how to fix your carburetor, tips on how to get your kids out of the house in the morning - all on schedule, how to construct your resume ... or, something along the lines of: An Obsessive's Guide to Bob Dylan/U2/The Replacements ... or An Obsessive's Guide to Persian Poetry, to The Boston Red Sox (or whatever) ..."I am an Expert on Preparing your Taxes and Finding Little-known Deducation" ... "I am an Expert on the films of Judy Garland" - whatever.
There's a wealth of random knowledge out there and I want my hands on it.
I love people who are obsessed with things. Who are passionate about things.
It does not matter what you are passionate about, as long as you are passionate about SOMETHING. (There are limits to this, obviously. If you are passionate about setting up killing fields in the rice paddies of Cambodia, then I don't really want to hear from you the best way to go about it.) But I have a ton of random obsessions: the history of totalitarian regimes, American theatre, Nirvana, the Bronte sisters, outer space ...
You get the picture.
I want to host a series called "Expert Day" - If people would send me essays on their obsessions/the subjects which they are "experts" on ... I will post them in an ongoing series.
Really, the sky is the limit here. Recipes to resumes, child-rearing to Elvis Costello-watching ... I don't care.
If you're interested in this, please send me your "expert essay" in an email to redhead2@sheilaomalley.com - and I will begin to post them immediately.
Posted by sheilaWhat a terrific idea. That's exactly the reason I love blogs so much - for the totally random diversity of knowledge and interests.
Posted by: Emily at April 5, 2004 1:26 PMI love obsessives, too. Or people who really KNOW stuff, and let their passions sweep them away. They tend to be a bit nutty, and I love that.
Posted by: red at April 5, 2004 1:40 PMThat is an _excellent_ idea.
Posted by: BSTommy at April 5, 2004 1:52 PMBut I'm an expert on just soooooooo many things, how will I ever choose just one? ;-p
Posted by: Dave J at April 5, 2004 2:06 PMDave J-
Multiple expert-essays would be FINE!! I know a woman who is obsessed with all things astrological - and who also could answer any question you may have about film noir.
Both essays would be welcome.
Posted by: red at April 5, 2004 2:23 PMGreat Idea! However, I can't write about what I'm an expert at.
Posted by: Jim at April 5, 2004 3:31 PMCan't you just reprint the contents of my blog? There's only two years of stuff there, it shouldn't take you long...
Heh.
TCP/IP. Low-carb diets. Paleolithic nutrition. The works of Robert Heinlein. Alcoholism. What I've learned about women, and why they aren't hard to understand. Munchausen's Syndrome and its manifestations. How to find the G-spot. Reaearch on morbid obesity. How fundamental statistics work and why they're easy to understand. Fundamentalist Christian theology and its permutations. The odd relationship between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. The life of Ronald Reagan. Communism.
Pick one.
God, I'm a geek. :-D
Posted by: Dean Esmay at April 5, 2004 6:39 PMVery cool. I'll definitely submit something.
Posted by: Dan at April 5, 2004 7:48 PMNo shit, Dean.
Enough of your blog is your expert-voice - so no need to repeat.
Send me something different then. Your best recipe for chili. How to make the best model airplaine ever. Whatever. :)
Surprise me.
Posted by: red at April 5, 2004 8:32 PMOh and "women and why they aren't hard to understand".
Ha. Who the hell says they're hard to understand? You've been reading the wrong books and talking to the wrong people, my friend.
Teasing.
Oh, and Patrick:
With my crowd of friends, there may be some competing "Judy Garland" entries. He who hesitates is lost.
Posted by: red at April 5, 2004 8:41 PMHowever, the G spot essay would, one would hope, help many people.
And Munchausen's syndrome interests me for the COMPLETELY trivial reason that Eminem's mom convinced him that he was a sickly boy for his entire childhood. She was addicted to her own self-image as the mother of a sickly boy.
However. You choose. Send me one. Send me a couple. Whatever you like.
I will play editor.
Posted by: red at April 5, 2004 8:47 PMThat's not COMPLETELY trivial, Sheila. Just mostly trivial. Completely trivial would be...oh, I don't know, something about coelacanths. :-P
Posted by: Dave J at April 5, 2004 9:22 PMHa. Who the hell says they're hard to understand? You've been reading the wrong books and talking to the wrong people, my friend.
Yeah, people like a certain redhead who shall remain nameless.
Chile. Chile. Did you know that real chile has no beans or tomoatoes in it? Okay dude, you win, you get yourself a child recipe from a Texan. Watch your mailbox later today.
Posted by: Dean Esmay at April 6, 2004 7:44 AMEminem's mom would have had Munchausen's By Proxy then. I'm quite familiar with this. I'd better not write about this, come to think of it.
Now, finding the G-Spot.... you sure? See there will be much discussion of frank sexual matters, suitable only for adults. I might even make you blush. (Okay, probably not possible, but you know what I mean.)
Chile first. Then maybe sex.
Posted by: Dean Esmay at April 6, 2004 7:46 AMDean, there's a difference between being an expert and being a know-it-all.
(I say this with love and humor - and you know I am only teasing.)
Chill out on the Woman Question, Dean. Please??
I'm sure this is just adding fuel to the fire, but I'm serious. None of that here.
Posted by: red at April 6, 2004 9:41 AMAlso, Dean: I quoted a letter from JUNG in that post. Who said women were hard to understand.
It's deeper than you think. And also simpler.
James Joyce was writing at a time when almost nobody wrote "first-person narratives" from a female perspective. He shattered that expectation with the 60 page run-on monologue spoken by Molly Bloom. Where she discusses her vagina, having periods, anal sex ... and also lust from the point of view of a woman. It completely shattered ideals of the "female". That's what Jung was responding to.
Posted by: red at April 6, 2004 9:43 AMDean: about the G spot, as far as I know no children read my blog.
I definitely blush - but I'm not shy, in general, about such matters. I blush, yes. But I blush with excitement and curiosity. Not shame.
Ha ha
Posted by: red at April 6, 2004 10:04 AMhey, what made u think of experts on judy garland films? thas' me! ;-)
Posted by: pennylane at July 6, 2004 3:23 AM