so much potential

[derien]

Just got back from a long walk around my neighborhood (trying to make myself have an hour's worth of excercise). Ah summer. There's work happening on at least one house in every block. Almost made me want to get a job as a painter, so I could be outside on lovely days. Then I noticed that at quite a few of those job sites there was an older person standing around, watching. Undoubtably the affluent owner of the property, making sure the workmen are working, or just curious what work looks like. By the time they get tired of watching I have to imagine the worker is so tired from being watched that they knock off for lunch.

Speaking of which, must arrainge a lunch for myself. And take a shower. And go pick up the paint for my car - it came in two weeks faster than I'd expected. :)

What else, what else... oh. Write my brother and let him know we could lend him a tent, campstove and dishes, because I did talk to my Aunt and ascertained that she'll be camping with a friend who has everything they need. Do dishes. That will about kill my time for today, but if I have any left I should write more on my elephants story. And write that spoilery-speculative post on HP that I've been promising to indulge myself in.

Maybe I don't have time to pick up the paint today.

What was I doing earlier today? I was reading and responding to a number of replies to my post last night on the study group - I had asked for opinions and help with a problem on binne. A certain person who's a friend of my Mom's and an ex employer of mine and very dedicated to her cause (homelessness and poverty) posts asking for help and donations to her cause, which immediately puts an end to any conversation that's been going on. She does this every time people start to talk.

People on the study group are of the opinion that being a friend of my Mom's and all should not entitle her to post whatever she wants, and that asking for money, even donations to a cause, is not particularly acceptable on a discussion group, and that I should make a rule that covers it and have a talk with her, privately, asking her to stop.

Comments

[derien.livejournal.com]

Can I just say that this is an incredibly hard e-mail to write? When I worked for her I was a quiet and shy eighteen year old. Even thinking about her puts me back in that space.

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I feel I must suggest that you reconsider the sorts of things you've been posting to binne. For a couple of days there it almost looked as though a conversation might be developing, but since your post there hasn't been a peep out of anyone for the past three days. Remember, binne IS intended as a list for conversation and I'm trying to get people from Northern New England to socialize, which is always an uphill battle at the best of times, so things which kill conversation should be avoided. Posts should invite informal, conversational response.

It has been suggested to me (not by someone on the list) that you might be more likely to interest people in helping if you posted about your personal experiences. She suggested you might talk about the times you've had fun in the course of helping people. (She's a teacher, and has to get people interested in the subject every day. And she's also a very good writer.)

My advice (take it for what it's worth, I'm not a teacher and I'm offering this free) is to focus on a really specific thing that happened that was fun - or heartwarming, if that's easier for you - and try to build up some detail about what lead up to that event and how it affected you. You'll find that something you thought was not significant often takes up quite a lot of space when you attempt to write down the context around it, but people seem to prefer reading a more detailed view to quick overviews - it captures their attention more, and more personally.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

That looks like a good mail! Here's hoping she gets the message . . .