Average Joe

Sorry for the long absence

2005-08-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Due to the pressures of life, my blogging activity has slowed to a virtual crawl, and I have even toyed with the idea of ceasing this blog altogether. I know, "joe don't do it, come down from the ledge" is what you are all thinking, right? We all have busy lives but rather than kill the blog altogether, I will just do what I can, and in the meatime try to get my arms around the different things competing for my time and occasionally comtribute to the dialogue.

Today is my wife's birthday. She is 41 and someone I greatly admire. It is especially cool that we have known eachother since we were 17 and been a couple since we were 18. That's 23 years for those of you counting. With each b-day its an opportunity to reflect on how unlikely an outcome that is and how God has had his hand on our relationship, kept us together, growing and thriving. Happy B-day Melanie from the kids and I.

Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We just returned today from a 5 day campout with friends and family (other Solis sisters, bro-in-laws...the usual, etc). What a joyous time to be surrounded by all the natual beauty and have the excellent fellowship of all those great people. It was a grand time, perfect...except for Zach's illness, and someday it would be cool to have Walker with us again, as he was when he was a youngling. Volleyball, good food, hiking, biking, kayaking, kids you can't beat it. Melanie and I were commenting on how this bi-annual trip is our favorite vacation. Not that we have been everywhere, but she and I have seen some pretty cool places when she would travel with me on business and occasionally we have had the opportunity to go on real vacations like a cruise etc. But this one for all the reasons mentioned above is the best, and ironically the destination is on 2 hours away. What we can't figure out is why it doesn't dawn on us to go up there more often?

Melanie also made the obsevation as we were driving along hwy 89 looking at the lake that it's so majestic and such an amazing creation that when you try to take it in it leaves you with a strange longing in your spirit. Perhaps its a glimpse of the wonders of heaven and the longing is the understanding that there is indeed more, untold beauty awaiting us in God's presence.

Good bye for now.

-J

Rosalyn, you owe me $5

2005-07-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

A hotly debated topic at this year's 4th of July party was the age of Nicole Kidman. This became a topic of discussion because last week Zach had made the comment that she is "hot", in spite of the fact that she is as old as his parents. I stated, only 1/2 confidently, that she was not as old as his parents to which Rosalyn Nunnink vehemently disagreed. Sorry Rosalyn, this time your old uncle Joe was right.

http://www.superiorpics.com/nicole_kidman/images/nicole005.jpg

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/nicole_kidman_biog.html

Book Tag

2005-07-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Sadie, I am also responding to your book questions. I am not sure what it means to be tagged, so I cut and pasted your questions from Levi's blog as you suggested. I am sure there is some better way to do it...?

Q: How many books do you own?
Answer: I am not sure but I would estimate a couple of hundred. Mostly some classic paperbacks, kids books, christian writings, some business books and some current fiction.

Q: Last book I bought?
Answer: "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt
Review: Informative business related book. The setting is a fictional factory and has lots of management science, philosophy and the like in it...I recommend it.

Q: Last book I read?
Answer: "Winning" by Jack Welch
Review: I loved this book. If you're not aware JW is commonly considered the best CEO in American business in the last 20 years or so...(retired from GE).

I guess you can tell from my recent reading material where my head is at?

Q: Five books with special meaning to me?
Answer: How about other than the Bible?

1) "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis

A very easy read and beautifully articulated description of the logic underlying the Christian faith.

2) "I Claudius" by Robert Graves

A supurb piece of historical fiction about ancient Rome from the time of Augustus to Claudius "the god".

3) "Candid" by Voltaire

Really good read. Voltaire was a deist and he rolls out his philosophy through the characters.

4) "Good To Great" by Jim Collins

The best business related book I have encountered. Very inspirational. I recommend it even if you think you have just a passing interest in the subject.

5) "Lonesome Dove" series by Larry McMurtry

Great series...awesome characters!

-J

"Ridiculous" Revisited

2005-06-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

For all of you who posted on my recent post here are some free downloads of some of the songs we discussed...No, John Mayer is not included...

Rock Bottom by UFO

Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd

Jessica by the Allman Bros. Band

Free Bird by Lynard Skynard

Working Man by Rush

Can't You Hear Me Knockin' by The Stones

Here's what I looked like when I first listened to some of this music:

Coming Soon: www.glennba.com

2005-06-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

More than anything else, this post is to retest my experiment of trying to incorporate images and links on my post. I thought, however, that I could take this opportunity to post some news about the GNBA. The consensus seems to be that a midnight tournament is not a swift idea. So, as an alternative, Melanie and I thought a 9pm-11pm or so could be more managable for those of you who don't love the game as much as me, and are stubbornly committed to your soft, conservative life-styles.

Additionally, culturezoo will be creating and launching a new GNBA website in the not too distant future. It's purpose will be to publically post the stats and profiles of all the players, record for posterity, the outcome of previous tournaments, blog about basketball, maybe even sponsor a fantasy league and post notices as to whether we will have our regular p/u games on Sundays and approximate start times....I'm very exited.

To wet your appetite here is the stats from the recent tourney:

Players	Total Games Played	REBs		REBS	Total Pts.	Scoring
Players	Total Games Played	OF	DEF	Avg.	Total Pts.	Avg.
Ryan	6	10	37	7.8	108	18.0
Sam	4	6	23	7.3	51	12.8
Jeff	3	3	8	3.7	36	12.0
Joe	3	1	10	3.7	33	11.0
Mark B.	2	1	7	4.0	17	8.5
Matt	3	4	8	4.0	19	6.3
Tim	2	0	5	2.5	12	6.0
Mark R.	6	3	14	2.8	31	5.2
Eric	3	2	15	5.7	15	5.0
Zach	3	2	2	1.3	15	5.0
David	2	0	8	4.0	9	4.5
Ashley	3	5	1	2.0	13	4.3
Lucas	4	3	20	5.8	17	4.3
Levi	2	0	4	2.0	8	4.0
Ben	2	1	2	1.5	7	3.5
Konrad	6	1	11	2.0	18	3.0
Trista	4	2	5	1.8	12	3.0
Aaron	2	2	4	3.0	4	2.0

...and compliments of culturezoo, here is the new logo that will be featured prominantly on the new site:

Wanted: "HTML For Dummies"

2005-06-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I sat down, recently armed with some basic HTML and a FTP site to post files and drafted a really cool post about the GlennBA. Alas, after several error messages I finally deleted it, and in my frustration forgot to save the post to a word.doc that I could conveniently retreive later. Oh well... this blog thing is quite a time committment, complete with a learning curve and everything. No wonder I wasn't even mentioned in the article.

I am committed however, to mastering some basic code so that my future posts are more graphical and therefore more interesting to my audience. (I realize as an experienced writer that I must keep the capacity of the audience in view, and I know that you all love pretty pictures to go along with tedious walls of text).

Speaking of tedious, I know the "Ridiculously Long Songs" got really old, but I do want to thank you all for conversing and posting so many comments..., it felt good to hit a home run. I also want to thank all of you for sticking with the standards I laid out in the "Blogger's Credo", I am pleased that this web log has not been a forum for anything other than dialogue among friends about subjects that for the most part are on the lighter side.

For you GlennBA-ers I am tentatively planning an end of the summer tournament for the Sunday before Labor Day. Please mark your calendars and let me know if that date works. I am also thinking about a Midnight tournament, maybe over the 4th of July weekend...who's in? I know if you're old, say 41 or so, this might be pushing it, but it might be a fun little tradition once a year in the middle of the summer....(note: very tentative, I haven't spoken to Me yet).

Speaking of Me, she won the Night Ranger sweepstakes. The song I was searching for with the rippin' solo was "Don't Tell Me You Love Me". Pretty cool track for an 80's hair band.

Ridiculously long songs, with ridiculously long guitar solos

2005-05-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

A strange sub-genre of rock music that has yet to make a comeback from the '70s is the epic song with long guitar solo at the end. Many of these songs facinated me as a youth; I literally spent hours air-guitaring to the dynamic and self-indulgent wanderings of my kindred guitar-playing brethren. Unfortunately today's formulaic radio formats have made 10 + min. guitar solos unmarketable for the record companies, and therefore uncool, so the likelyhood of this ever making a comeback is remote. Don't give into the man! If you liked this musical phenomenon as I did, here is a short list of some of the more melodically verbose shredding favorites, ...and not so favorites.

Free Bird, by: Lynard Skynard-A cliche' choice to be sure, but pretend like you never heard it before and you can't help but be impressed by their unbelievable dueling guitar synchronicity. Two and sometimes three guitars playing complimentary solos in harmony at breakneck speed.
Rock Bottom, by UFO-Michael Schenker (brother of Rudy Schenker of the 70s-80s hair band The Scorpions), was an enigmatic guiatrist who played with UFO for one album and went on to form his own thing that never really flew. The guitar playing in this really adrenalized me when I was 16. Check-out "UFO Live" for the only version worth listening to.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond, by Pink Floyd-This track doesn't fit the rest of the group because it features ridiculously long solos from everyone in the band including a guest sax player, but the guitar work is amazing. Gilmore at his best..., its kind of a dark alchemy of the blues and 70s art-rock.
Green Grass and High Tides, by The Outlaws-Another Southern Rock entry..., I think the evolution was Lynard Skynard took off on the instrumental themes of the Allman Bros. when they wrote "Free Bird" and then every other Souther Rock band tried to create their "Free Bird".
Grey Ghost, by The Henry Paul Band-This song was not only trying to be like "Free Bird" it was actually a tribute song about Lynard Skynard after the plane crash in '76.

I wanted to avoid Live tracks, since really long solos on live tracks aren't all that unusual and can't be considered a sub-genre, but two songs that deserve mention here because they literally provided the sound-track for my adolescence are:

Do You Feel Like We Do, by Peter Framton-I knew all the "talk-box" guitar parts by heart. I couldn't play them, I could replicate them with my voice.
Dazed and Confused, by Led Zeppelin-You know the one with the violin bow on the SRTS, very cool at the time. Years later however, I realize that Jimmy Page was highly overrated.

There are a couple of lame-o examples of this genre as well..., topping the list:

Working Man, by Rush-This was before the became the New Age Philosophers of the Great White North, this was when they were simple trying to sound like Led Zeppelin and get a record deal.
Highway Song, by Blackfoot-A sissy Southern Rockish attempt at another "Free Bird". Instead they ended up whining about how tough it is on the road being a pre-madonna rock star.

-J

The travails of a husband on Mother’s Day “week-end”

2005-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Due to early obligations at Church on Sundays, we in the Glenn home have begun to celebrate M-Day on the Saturday preceding, so that we (me and the kids) can prepare the obligatory breakfast of eggs, beacon, French-toast casserole, strawberries, etc and leisurely enjoy it.

This Saturday I had the misfortune of having to accompany Melanie to her favorite Nevada City storefront to purchase decorative plates for the 5’ vertical plate holder thing-a-bob I bought her for Mother’s Day. Why on earth, you might ask did you buy her this plate contraption?...Well in my endless pursuit of husbandly perfection, I strived this year for the “cute idea”. As it turned out it was a terrible idea. You ladies probably understand the abstract concept of a “cute idea”. A “cute idea” is when you take an object made to do one thing, and you creatively repurpose it for another use. My “cute idea” was that Melanie could use the plate holder thing, which had 4 spaces, to proudly display a portrait of each of her four kids, instead of plates. Calm down ladies, I know you are developing a crush on me right now. This was especially “cute” since it was M-Day and I incorporated the kid angle.

Upon presenting this present to Melanie, I discovered the idea was not so cute after all. First of all, she didn’t have four pictures or frames that would work, pictures of the kids in the kitchen was somehow not cool even if she did, and the plate thing was way too long for any of our wall space. To my dismay, I couldn’t return the item, due to the fact that I had spay painted it black the night before to “match” our other kitchen furnishings.

This all might sound pretty trivial, but it took a dramatic turn for the worse. Melanie in a generous attempt to redeem my ill advised gift and to prevent me from mowing the lawn on “Mother’s Saturday” had me take her to Nevada City to Country Collectibles to purchase some decorations to go on the rack. Predictably, some of the items under consideration were plates. After several minutes of resenting the very fact I was there, I began to become engaged in the process of selecting items, setting them on the rack, standing back and observing our choice, finding other items, etc, etc, etc. After 45 minutes and with the able assistance of a sales clerk and the owner (I think) we found 2 ceramic plates that were perfect compliments to our now exciting new furnishing. These were the only two plates of their kind in the store and featured hand-painted birds, “a matched set, but each one unique” as the sales lady described them. Finally the shopping experience was coming to a satisfying end as Melanie, the sales clerk, the owner of the shop, as well as myself all intuitively new that these items were perfect, well earned through the selection process of trial and error. To get one last unique perspective of finished product we had all created I said, somewhat under my breath, “maybe I should just lift it up to take a look….”

CRASH! BANG! CLANG!#%#&^^%(*(**….

Smashed right there in the middle of this quiet little store after all the effort. To make things worse, as the plates were flying off the rack in what seemed like slow-motion the elderly owner was lunging in a futile attempt to catch them in mid air. Oh, the humiliation. To make things worse, Melanie, terrified that I would make a scene, due to the fact that I didn’t appreciate being there to begin with, opted for an evil, frozen smile, in an attempt to relieve the tension of an unbelievably awkward moment, instead of openly criticizing me, which would have caused me to snap.

Alls well, that ends well. Surprisingly, the rack now hangs in my house…just not in the kitchen.

Got to go, I hung it crooked and need to go and fix it.

"Be a receiver not a Broadcaster" (Disclaimer: this post is not about the new Weezer album since I have only heard one track....sorry)

2005-05-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

I am struck, time and again, by the most basic of truths. That to be a good communicator one must be a good listener. I find this also to be the most elusive of skills. The old cliche that we are all born with two ears and one mouth, and therefore, should use them in that proportion, may be corney but it is very profound. What greater blessing can you give someone than to really intently listen to what they are saying, with empathy and understanding and the intent to gain perspective. This is an invaluable skill in all relationships. At home, amongst friends, in the workplace not only for strengthening a healthy relationship but also in dealing effectively with contention and conflict. Oh, to be that disciplined to be able to truely listen with sincere openness instead of silently contemplating your next point.

I can't imagine that in Heaven, even when we are endowed with our new bodies that we go around orating and pontificating..., what would be the need? Who would listen when their ears are filled with music? In fact the only lines I know I have in my heavenly script are: "Holy, holy, holy...". How liberating will that be to speak only words of agreement (Amen) and praise? I suspect the rest could be left unsaid.

In the meantime, I am hopeful I can further develop this character and love my brother and sister by engaging in REAL communication.

Too buried to blog....

2005-04-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Really busy right now. Check back with me next week (week of 5/1/05). Coming soon...a compelling list of ridiculously long songs from the 70's with ridiculously long guitar solos. I'm waiting until I figure out how to mix in graphics with my intmidating walls of text. I like to call it averagejoe 2.0.

Your in charge,…now what?

2005-04-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Although I can visualize my wife’s eyes rolling as I post this blog due to a potential perceived lack of humility on my part for stating on this web log that I was recently promoted, I thought I would discuss it anyway, in part because it gives me more of an alibi for my recent absence from the blogging discipline and to offer a sincere thanks to those of you who offered your congratulations and vote of confidence. The other reason why I mention it, is because it has been a significant event dominating my thought life and time for the past week and to also state that I expect the challenges associated with this new position to likely be a topic of this web log from time to time, and those of you who visit this site may want to serve as a “master mind” group of sorts and offer input to me as I grow into this new leadership position. While this may seem like a novel idea, it has been done before. While my position is on a much smaller scale than this example, in 2002 the new CEO of The Gap, Inc., also blogged for the first 100 days of his new position, making observations, discussing in general terms some of the challenges and opportunities etc, and from what I’ve read, this became for him and effective forum for communication and he was able to get some valuable third party perspectives he wouldn’t have otherwise had. No pressure of course, if you find my posts boring or irrelevant to what is of interest to you, I will quickly get the point and stray away from this theme…(see: “Blogger’s Credo).

A key topic on my mind, as you might expect is leadership. I read lots of management and leadership books, as you have probably guessed, and one of the more compelling theories I have come across is the concept of the “Level 5 Leader” in the book Good To Great. In a nutshell, a level 5 leader combines personal humility with an intense focus on organizational results. As the theory goes, a level 5 is typically not the charismatic, overbearing leader preoccupied with his own ambitions, instead his passion is for the mission of the organization and what ambition he has is channeled toward that aim. He sees himself fulfilling the role of catalyst toward this “higher purpose”. Additionally, the level 5 employs the principle of the “mirror and the window”. This means that this kind of leader manifests his humility by looking outward when things go well (the window) assigning credit for the good results to others, and tends to look inward (the mirror) when things are amiss, bearing the ultimate responsibility of his position. The ultimate outcome of this character of leadership, as the theory goes, is much more likely to produce long-term sustainable results as opposed to the temporary surge in results, characterized by charismatic leaders like Lee Iacoca (see: Miraculous turn-around at Chrystler Corp. in the mid-eighties).

I like this theory because it dovetails nicely with the biblical definition of servant leadership. One example is the man’s headship in the home. A man’s job is to be the spiritual leader, protector, provider etc, really a list of responsibilities not so much as “perks”. Its clear in scripture that he is to bear the ultimate responsibility before God for a peaceful, loving and godly home, fulfill the “mission” of obeying God in word and in deed, while meeting the essential needs of his wife and family. With that role, he has a certain authority, but although he is assigned this role by God, must have the willing participation of those he is leading, hence the command for women to submit to their husbands.

We also see several examples in the OT of “level 5 leadership”; never flawless of course. King David is a great example. He was selected by God through Samuel to be King of the united Kingdom of Israel. This was not driven by his own ambition. He was a man after God’s own heart, which could be taken to mean he totally “bought in” to God’s plan (mission) to set aside a people for Himself, and fulfilled the role as God defined it, in spite of his humble stature. I see similar parallels with Moses, Abraham, Josiah and many others who’s acts of righteousness were defined by obeying the Lord not by their astute understanding of how to get things done and motivate people. Like David we see examples in all of these men of near disastrous consequences when they strayed from the mission (God’s plan) and placed their own ambitions above those of God (remember Uriah, David’s census, Abram’s lie to Pharoh, Moses and the watering stone etc).

For you Christians in the group, I would love your perspective and help in further crystallizing the biblical model of leadership. What better standard is there to aspire to?

In the meantime…, go team! Sky’s the limit! Rah, rah!

An embarrassment to bloggers everywhere…?

2005-04-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to acknowledge that I haven’t been faithful of late in my new responsibility of posting my thoughts on my web-log. I realize that it is presumptuous on my part to assume that anyone’s quality of life has suffered as a result of this unintended absence, but since I launched my blog I feel this vague feeling of obligation. Not only to post on average joe, but also improve my performance on reciprocal posts on other’s sites as a means of being a responsible member of this cyber-community. For those of you offended, I humbly and abjectly apologize. I would offer an excuse but feel that would only serve to add insult to injury. Could it be that I was feeling threatened by the mysterious undertard, who has yet to identify himself? No I must admit I haven’t any reason so compelling. Although I would like to take credit for figuring it out, the true identity of undertard has come to my attention, and I should have known it was a resident of the Pacific Northwest, Eastern Washington to be more exact, that has always been enamored with the idea of being a mysterious figure. In any case, you can look forward to a wealth of material and incite from average joe, such as it is, in the not too distant future.

Captain’s Blog…Star Date 0.3.30.05

2005-03-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve come to understand that “trekies” are the most committed geeks (meant here as a term of endearment) of them all. More committed than the pimply-faced kids dressed up as Luke Skywalker and camped out in front of the local UA theater for a week in advance of the next installment of LucasFilm’s only contributions to cinematic excellence. More committed than the faux-residents of Middle Earth who take precious time away from the their grueling schedule of Dungeons and Dragons to tailgate in front of the same theater complex. Even more committed than the scores of gamers who jammed the lines at the neighborhood electronics store to obtain the new release of Halo and who spent hours of Internet time visiting the Halo site for clues about the games new feature in anticipation of its release this past fall.

How do I know this? Apparently there is a fan, so upset by Viacom’s recent announcement that they will cease production of the most recent permutation of the 1960’s science-fiction series that they have launched a website with the intent of raising $30 Million to finance the continuing production. The amazing thing is that this individual has been successful in raising $3.1 million toward that goal! The largest contribution has come from some kind of “legitimate” scientific society/think-tank that admires the series for inspiring scientific and technological innovation in the area of space travel. Wow, what a franchise! What a marketing achievement. Silly me, I always thought it was just a cheesy TV series with stupid costumes, sub-standard acting and little furry things called “tribbels”. I stand corrected.

Today’s Stock Tip: The word on the “street” is that Exxon-Mobile has just perfected Dythiam-Crystal technology, which is the center piece of their strategy to move away from the production of fossil fuel. The rumor is that Daimlar-Benz will be licensing the technology for use in their 2007 Plymouth Voyager, pending EPA approval. Warren Buffet, Chairman of Berkshire-Hathaway and noted investor is said to be making a big bet on Daimlar to the tune of 900,000 shares. Don’t be left behind.

The musings of a sales manager and amateur philosopher

2005-03-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

A recent sermon I had the pleasure of hearing invoked the example of the stereotypical “used car salesman”. The illustration, as I remember it, was contrasting a salesman’s compulsion for closing a sale with the Bible’s doctrine of election and how encouraging someone to parrot a canned prayer in a highly emotionally charged state is not necessarily showing them the path to salvation. “Believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord”- is not equivalent to making a buying decision, and sharing the Gospel is not equivalent to making a “sales pitch”.

Okay-a very good sermon and a profound message I needed to hear. However, lest all the good men and women who find themselves in a sales profession feel the have been given short shrift, I thought I would weigh-in on the characterization offered of salespeople in the sermon and offer an alternative to the stereotype.

First of all let us acknowledge that salespeople are on the front lines of virtually all of the commerce that takes place in the private sector and beyond. Nothing happens until someone makes a sale. Inventories aren’t reduced, payrolls aren’t met, pensions aren’t funded etc. It is not an exaggeration to say that sales or selling is the engine that powers the world economy.

I recently read an interesting fact; Pfizer, the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world is not only the forth largest purchaser of advertising in the US, but also has over 38,000 salespeople in the field and spends twice as much on business development as they do on R & D. Perhaps this is not what you would expect from a company who has “eradicating disease” as one of their company’s values, but it illustrates the fact that it is difficult, if not impossible, for any firm to engage in socially responsible behavior without focusing on their economic health and fueling the bottom line. It takes on average $1 Billion to bring a new drug to market, so somebody better be out there “pounding the pavement”. This, I believe casts the role of the salesperson in a different light.

Furthermore, selling is a profession that requires a skill set that not all people possess. While the stereotype of a salesperson being a “fast talker” or having the “gift of gab” is a popular characterization by people outside the profession or by those who have deep seeded resentment due to their own “low sales resistance”, the truth is that selling requires a high degree of emotional intelligence and empathy, which aside from being some of the most highly compensated skills in our society are also sometimes transferable to other areas of life. Being extraverted, outgoing, having the “gift of gab” is not required, however, a professional demeanor, determination, creativity, a strong work ethic and a strong conviction about the value of the product or service you are selling is.

While most of us have a story about an unethical or overzealous salesperson, more concerned about their own pocketbook than meeting the needs of the customer, it has been my experience that the “karmic forces” that enable all of us to vote with our dollars eventually root such people out of the profession, and rewards the rest with the benefits of a dignified career.

To be continued…

New Blogger’s “credo”-

2005-03-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

I thought as a kick-off to my new blog I would make some observations about this mode of written communication. My purpose is two-fold, Firstly, there is the concept of accountability and by establishing my “credo” of proper blog conduct, I am inviting fellow bloggers to hold me to this standard on a go-forward basis. Secondly, I am presenting an opportunity for others to challenge these observations and assertions, and in this way the “credo” may serve as a basis for some spirited dialogue and/or debate.

As I understand it, one “posts” on a blog. This makes it quite different from other forms of written communication. A “post” is not equivalent to a private journal or diary entry, although I understand that some use it in this fashion, nor is it a direct method of communication in the way a letter or even an email is, in most cases. This combined with the fact that the “post” goes on a public URL on the world-wide-web, with no meaningful barriers to entry, other than an Internet connection, infers that I ought not feel violated or that my privacy is being invaded when one reads what I have written. It is also helpful to remeber that no one, regardless of gender, culture, values, age or any other demographic or economic denominator is prevented from participating, either overtly or covertly. It follows then, given the forum, that I bear some responsibility for what I write and the perceptions of my character my posts may provoke in others. If my posts cause offense or alienation, are of a highly personal nature, are habitually negative or consistently irrelevant, then it is I who is not exercising the proper discretion, not connecting with the concept of personal responsibility or fundamentally don’t understand the potential impact of the written word. In any case, I have failed to add value to the exchange.

With that in mind here are the 5 tenants of Joe’s blogger’s “credo”-

-I will remember the destructive power of words
-I will carefully weigh and consider the thoughts and opinions of others
-I will be open to vigorous debate and dialogue
-I will be candid, while avoiding personal attacks
-I will realize my words and the words of others are available for public consumption