Scattershooting: Book talk and July Update
Greetings y'all and welcome to July. If you are looking for the Introduction or the first couple of chapters of the online book, here are the links:
FIRST GO READ THE INTRODUCTION
THEN GO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER
THEN GO READ THE SECOND CHAPTER
I haven't yet decided if I am going to continue to post chapters here on the blog. I announced to my private email friendslist that I was probably not going to continue with the book project on the blog because of lack of interest, but recent events may conspire to change my mind. We'll see. Basically the facts are these: For 12 months the blog had seen a steady (and sometimes) remarkable growth in readership, but subsequent to me starting the online book project on the first of June, we lost well over 100 unique visitors a day. I expected some dropoff because we knew it would not be necessary for our regular visitors to stop by each day if I was only posting a chapter a week, but I was not prepared to see our hits and visits drop like a rock, and, combined with the anemic participation (even by longtime participants and regular commenters) in the chapter comments, I could only conclude that my core readership was not interested in the book project. I had already accepted that most new readers, drive-bys, etc. would probably find the book to be "too much" or overwhelming, but I was not really prepared to see it fall so flat with my regular readership. Sooooo.... I had to figure out what to do. My regular readers know that I am not a guy who goes by what is popular or what will drive the most traffic. I was purely prepared for a big hit in traffic with the book being posted. But, again, if my core readership isn't even interested in the project, then it seems to me to be a waste of time and bandwidth to keep posting chapters.
I had basically decided to quit posting chapters (I am still working hard on the book, I just wouldn't be posting the chapters as I finish them) on the blog. Until we had the massive influx of hits and visits on Monday after my Palm Pre review was featured as a story on some pretty big gadget sites. We've had short flashes of such things before, but I was curious if any of the new readers were getting anything out of the book. Well, I received a few "tweets" on my Twitter page, and several private emails and communications from new folks who were actually reading and learning from the book. So now I am torn, and I haven't decided whether to continue with the book online or not. I have been busily working on Chapter 3 and hope to have it ready later today (or at the latest tomorrow morning). I guess you'll find out what I decided if you check back in late this afternoon. Comments or suggestions are always valuable.
Anyway, for this morning, a regular "Scattershooting" edition. For you new folks, Scattershooting is a stream of consciousness rant as I go through the morning's news and events, and sometimes I include updates on what is going on here. So here we go...
An ad for an Italian ice cream maker caused some distress and anger because it illustrated its slogan of "forbidden Italian temptations" by showing a priest and a nun in a very seductive pose inside the confessional. Apparently, this ad bothered some people. Perhaps they were offended by the ridiculous imagery of a Roman Catholic priest being portrayed as a heterosexual.
Not that I would ever drink one, but here is one way to open a Bud Light (make sure you scroll down to see the picture.)
Remember back in the old days when "summer" meant the sound of cicadas and crickets, or maybe the sounds of the ice cream truck and the crack of a bat? Not today, and not in Detroit. "Bria Wilson, 15, said she never saw a green minivan, or even the gunmen who fired the shots. But the sound of gunshots meant it was time to run." I am torn between two reactions: 1. Is it news that people got shot in Detroit? 2. Are there still people in Detroit?
Hypocrisy alert. Apparently, according to Geraldo Rivera, a child rapist should be killed in the street by vigilantes... unless he is your friend Michael Jackson. It is "brutal child rape" if it is done by an unknown white guy. If it is done by your Hollywood friend, theoretically a black guy, it is "unnatural affection for children".
This is too funny and ridiculous for words. Apparently some British cop got beat up by a gang of cows... "I really want to put out the message that cows can't be trusted." Even though the cop was on private property, he sued the landowner and won. It seems the cop thought the property owner should have erected signs on his cattle farm to protect innocent pedestrians from untrustworthy cows. "I'm not one to believe in unnecessary over-regulation, but I think a lot of people don't realise how dangerous cows can be." Well, as a cattle owner, I'd like to correct one glaring error in this cop's logic. Cows don't read signs.
Another "pastor" convicted of child pornography. This time in Texas. And they say cows are untrustworthy.
This pastor may be a heretic, but he has it right about guns. It's good to finally find a story about a pastor or priest who isn't a pedophile.
My good friend and Agrarian hero Herrick Kimball has posted his June update and it includes a lengthy plug for my online book. Thanks Herrick. We miss your regular posts, but I wait anxiously for your monthly updates.
Some updates... well, Danielle's garage sale was successful, and she was able to raise $300 more towards little Sarah's (age 5) emergency dental work. For those who are not on my private friendslist, our daughter Sarah, it seems, was born without enamel on her back teeth, and she has had major dental problems as a result and has problems eating. The emergency work is going to cost $2000 and Danielle is with Sarah at the specialist right now getting the work done. Anyone else who wants to help with this emergency may do so:
Hey, y'all have a great day and check back later to see if I decide to post Chapter 3. Remember, I am often swayed by insistent comments and/or threats. Fire away.
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
FIRST GO READ THE INTRODUCTION
THEN GO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER
THEN GO READ THE SECOND CHAPTER
I haven't yet decided if I am going to continue to post chapters here on the blog. I announced to my private email friendslist that I was probably not going to continue with the book project on the blog because of lack of interest, but recent events may conspire to change my mind. We'll see. Basically the facts are these: For 12 months the blog had seen a steady (and sometimes) remarkable growth in readership, but subsequent to me starting the online book project on the first of June, we lost well over 100 unique visitors a day. I expected some dropoff because we knew it would not be necessary for our regular visitors to stop by each day if I was only posting a chapter a week, but I was not prepared to see our hits and visits drop like a rock, and, combined with the anemic participation (even by longtime participants and regular commenters) in the chapter comments, I could only conclude that my core readership was not interested in the book project. I had already accepted that most new readers, drive-bys, etc. would probably find the book to be "too much" or overwhelming, but I was not really prepared to see it fall so flat with my regular readership. Sooooo.... I had to figure out what to do. My regular readers know that I am not a guy who goes by what is popular or what will drive the most traffic. I was purely prepared for a big hit in traffic with the book being posted. But, again, if my core readership isn't even interested in the project, then it seems to me to be a waste of time and bandwidth to keep posting chapters.
I had basically decided to quit posting chapters (I am still working hard on the book, I just wouldn't be posting the chapters as I finish them) on the blog. Until we had the massive influx of hits and visits on Monday after my Palm Pre review was featured as a story on some pretty big gadget sites. We've had short flashes of such things before, but I was curious if any of the new readers were getting anything out of the book. Well, I received a few "tweets" on my Twitter page, and several private emails and communications from new folks who were actually reading and learning from the book. So now I am torn, and I haven't decided whether to continue with the book online or not. I have been busily working on Chapter 3 and hope to have it ready later today (or at the latest tomorrow morning). I guess you'll find out what I decided if you check back in late this afternoon. Comments or suggestions are always valuable.
Anyway, for this morning, a regular "Scattershooting" edition. For you new folks, Scattershooting is a stream of consciousness rant as I go through the morning's news and events, and sometimes I include updates on what is going on here. So here we go...
An ad for an Italian ice cream maker caused some distress and anger because it illustrated its slogan of "forbidden Italian temptations" by showing a priest and a nun in a very seductive pose inside the confessional. Apparently, this ad bothered some people. Perhaps they were offended by the ridiculous imagery of a Roman Catholic priest being portrayed as a heterosexual.
Not that I would ever drink one, but here is one way to open a Bud Light (make sure you scroll down to see the picture.)
Remember back in the old days when "summer" meant the sound of cicadas and crickets, or maybe the sounds of the ice cream truck and the crack of a bat? Not today, and not in Detroit. "Bria Wilson, 15, said she never saw a green minivan, or even the gunmen who fired the shots. But the sound of gunshots meant it was time to run." I am torn between two reactions: 1. Is it news that people got shot in Detroit? 2. Are there still people in Detroit?
Hypocrisy alert. Apparently, according to Geraldo Rivera, a child rapist should be killed in the street by vigilantes... unless he is your friend Michael Jackson. It is "brutal child rape" if it is done by an unknown white guy. If it is done by your Hollywood friend, theoretically a black guy, it is "unnatural affection for children".
This is too funny and ridiculous for words. Apparently some British cop got beat up by a gang of cows... "I really want to put out the message that cows can't be trusted." Even though the cop was on private property, he sued the landowner and won. It seems the cop thought the property owner should have erected signs on his cattle farm to protect innocent pedestrians from untrustworthy cows. "I'm not one to believe in unnecessary over-regulation, but I think a lot of people don't realise how dangerous cows can be." Well, as a cattle owner, I'd like to correct one glaring error in this cop's logic. Cows don't read signs.
Another "pastor" convicted of child pornography. This time in Texas. And they say cows are untrustworthy.
This pastor may be a heretic, but he has it right about guns. It's good to finally find a story about a pastor or priest who isn't a pedophile.
My good friend and Agrarian hero Herrick Kimball has posted his June update and it includes a lengthy plug for my online book. Thanks Herrick. We miss your regular posts, but I wait anxiously for your monthly updates.
Some updates... well, Danielle's garage sale was successful, and she was able to raise $300 more towards little Sarah's (age 5) emergency dental work. For those who are not on my private friendslist, our daughter Sarah, it seems, was born without enamel on her back teeth, and she has had major dental problems as a result and has problems eating. The emergency work is going to cost $2000 and Danielle is with Sarah at the specialist right now getting the work done. Anyone else who wants to help with this emergency may do so:
Hey, y'all have a great day and check back later to see if I decide to post Chapter 3. Remember, I am often swayed by insistent comments and/or threats. Fire away.
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
posted by Michael Bunker at 7/01/2009 07:56:00 AM
16 Comments:
Please post chapter 3! It is too important of a topic to keep quiet on now that the intro is out there and people are reading it, in my opinion.
Any idea on when the book will be available for purchase? :-) I know...it has to be finished first. I can see holding back a few chapters to encourage people to buy the book but posting as much as possible would also be good.
However, if the purpose of posting the book online was simply for feedback and you are not getting the feedback you need/want then I can see the argument for not doing it because it isn't helping the process. On the other hand, if you posted the book online because you wanted the information in the hands of as many people as possible (immediately) then I think it was a big success, even if lacking comment.
The bottom line is that I don't know of anywhere else that people can get this type of analysis of the topic today. So whether we have to wait to get it in book form or whether we can continue to read it here I think it is necessary and important that the work continue, Lord willing.
-Stewart
Ok, here is my .02 cents worth. Daniel and I like reading the book, but we are hopelessly outclassed in assisting you with editing the book. Because Daniel and I are REALLY odd ducks in your readership, our opinion may not apply to the rest of your readers ;) First, because we are so new to all of this, we don't know the language of Christianity all the well or a lot of concepts. I have to stop and look things up for us, or consider them for a while and incorporate them into our world views. That is why I was wishing for citations or footnotes on some items, to help me research them a little better. I do love a good footnote! Second, by them time I get around to finishing the section, several other people will have commented on the niggling little grammar and spelling things that pop up. I don't want to waste your time pointing out what someone has already pointed to.
My suggestion: slow down. Start a post with the scattershooting, to keep your readership up. Then post a section for editing right after the scattershooting but only once a week. You might even give direction to folks regarding exactly what you want considered for that section, or have people research for you bits and pieces, or ask them to hunt down footnote information for you, to make it a more collaborative process.
On another note: consider adjusting your RSS feed. On Google Reader, your entire post comes up removing the necessity for me to actually come to your site. This drives your hits down, unless you are adding up your RSS folks separately as a part of your stats. The RSS length can be adjusted on some platforms to where you "force" the readership to jump to your actual site to finish the article. Final note: Due to a lack of stamps and persistent ornery laziness, I just got the snail mail letter from Daniel and I out to you yesterday. We put something in it for you. (nothing bad! Really!)Since it is coming from California, I expect you will see it by Friday if the mail is running that day, or next Monday of the mail does not run Sat? I hope this was useful!
Stewart and Michelle, thanks for the comments and the advice. Stewart, my hope is to finish the book by mid-September to have it purchasable before the end of the year. That of course is of the Lord wills it.
Michael
If you don't post Chapter 3, we will have to come there personally visit you and your family, pray for rain, and then drive around on the wrong roads.
Disregarding the rules for mud. Yeah, I thought so, nobody wants that.
Everyone should comment on the book. Little gramatical errors. Wording questions. OR - just to say good job - whatever.
By the way - footnotes make me sleepy ;-)
Michael,
It doesn't matter to me where you post the chapters because I'm on your friends list too. Maybe you'd get more people on the friends list if that's the only place they could read the material. Which would also help your cash flow. I know you don't want a bunch of consumers on the list, but if you purge it every month that would keep the casual observers down and people who really do get benefit from it would communicate with you to continue getting it.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Al
Please post chapter three. Sorry I have not commented as much as I should have. It is very overwhelming to think that I would have anything to add that you have not thought of. Not being a writer I don't really have much good stuff to add, but I do thank you for your time and commitment to help lead God's elect in the way they should go. Thanks again, Chris Woods
Hi Michael,
I have never posted comments on your site. However I have been following it everyday for the last 6 months. I have been waiting for each chapter and as far as I am concerned they haven't been coming fast enough.
Please keep them coming.
Sophia White B.C. Canada
Bro. Bunker,
I lean toward the foothill agrarians opening with a little flair.... I don't know what a 'friends' list is, have no idea what twitter is all about and usually spend at least 3 passes over each chapter before I even try and read it to my family in a cogent fashion!That being said, I don't want you to give up because of my poor government education level! I have written out pages of 'ideas' but have little ability to do so quickly enough before the next chapter is published and I have to re- expand my little brain to absorb the new stuff!
That is exactly why you should keep writing,( either here or in the final book), because there is a dearth of practical agrarian teaching in the Church today. Bro. McConnell is trying a book on Agrarianism that is largely economic based, but aside from the two of you, ( who are approaching from somewhat differrent angles), there is no one in modern christendom that is really laying down a consistent and thorough application of agrarianism to our faith! That is why the road is so hard. There is no real understanding of these ideas, which are so basic for yourself. It is taking time, but it is well worth it.
If it is any encouragement, I would have you know that my family took a diversion from our normal family worship in the shorter catechism to read your first chapter as a family study. Much practical application was made among all ages of the children and we have not stopped talking about the things we have learned. This is worth all the effort and should be a small comfort in the process.People are being reached. It is just hard to overcome the cultural thinking that has enslaved us. We will buy the book, Lord willing, and we will continue to follow whatever you are 'tweeting' about. My belief is that there will be real fruit from your efforts in the end.
Your friend, Bob
I would like you to continue. It is a busy time for most of us, summer work and visitors and all... :-D But, I get on here whenever I can and I am printing these off to read in snatches here and there. Please continue.
Please, by all means continue to post the chapters. Hadn't been commenting because I didn't think my comments mattered or would be posted. Some of my comments for some of your other postings never appeared. Nevertheless, Chapter 2 was excellent, right on the money, wouldn't change a thing.
Sonya
Hope you keep writing Michael as I am learning so much and realizing just how colonized the mind truly is and how much work it is to think in truth,even when you have separated.
My 2 cents worth... the chapters are just too long for a blog post.
Just wanted to offer a little of the feedback you have requested. I am enjoying reading your book and have told friends about it. We are engaged in reading the chapters and discussing the content. Don't know if we are tracking with you in every point but are seriously considering the ideas you have raised. We appreciate your work and would love it if you continued to make it available to us. Thanks
Keep posting the chapters. If you wish to post in additon then do so. But the chapters are great weekly food for thought.
Gotta get back to digging post holes. Deer are eating up my garden.
Chad McCarthy
like the book
gives me some real fodder to think about and not just fluff.
Wheather you realize or not, you're impacting some lives with the messages you write. Without them,
there would just be silence.
I hope you keep writing and posting. You have a real gift.
Gregg (in CT.)
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