December days

[liv]

So the daily December thing is doing the rounds again, and it's a completely great idea. Having a good proportion of my friends committing to daily posting makes DW and LJ hugely more fun. December is difficult because the first half is busy teaching time and the second half is completely disrupted routine with lots of family commitments, but what the hell.

Please do comment with requests for posts. They can be prompts or questions, anything from a single word up to a detailed description of how you'd like me to address a topic. You are welcome to ask for a particular date if you like, or else I'll just fit you in to the next empty day. And don't feel shy to ask for posts if you don't know me that well or you usually lurk, I'll happily take requests / prompts from strangers (and indeed from close friends and anybody in between). I'm also pretty open so (as long as it doesn't impact on other people's privacy) I'm happy to answer just about anything. And happy for you to suggest something outside my normal blogging comfort zone; if you want my random opinions on something I know little about, go ahead and ask, I can nearly always find something to say.

I think this is going to be good for me, cos I'm at a stage in my relationship with DW when I want to post but I'm not sure what to talk about. I mean, I had a really great weekend with friends, but you probably don't want to hear the detail of that. Or else there are "big" posts I want to make but I hesitate because I want to make sure I back up my argument with citations and write something polished, but of course I don't round to that sort of thing nearly often enough. And the discipline of posting every day means I just write down my thoughts off-the-cuff without worrying about stuff like that, which I think in fact leads to better blogging. Like that parable (I'm never sure if this an actual experiment that somebody did, or just a teaching story) about two groups of pottery students, one group asked to make the single best pot they possibly could, and the second group to make as many pots as possible, and the as many as possible group did better work.

For reference, here's what I came up with last time I did daily posting. I don't know if I'll end up with a whole 31 entirely new prompts, but if I don't I'll try to slot in some of the stuff I've been meaning to talk about, because it's better to post something than wait for the non-existent moment when I'll have time to make a post I'd think of as good.

I'm also finding it quite hard to think of prompts for everyone else; I will try to come to all your prompt posts before the start of December. And it's not that I don't find you interesting, it's that I am too interested and I can't just pick one thing to ask about!

December 1 – Awesome Talmud stories for jack
December 2 – Cambridge the town for watersword
December 3 – Favourite food memory for forestofglory
December 4 – Three non-Dreamwidth blogs for wildeabandon
December 5 – Homes for cjwatson
December 6 – Family traditions for ghoti
December 7 – Music for angelofthenorth
December 8 – Work / family / social life balance for falena
December 9 – Colours for bugshaw
December 10 – Nobel prizes for vatine
December 11 – Favourite museum for ceb
December 12 – Favourite places outside the UK for ghoti
December 13 – Poverty for ewt
December 14 – Board of Deputies for jack (and kerrypolka)
December 15 – Desert Island Discs for sfred
December 16 – Chanukah for kass
December 17 – Art for angelofthenorth
December 18 – A game I like for ghoti
December 19 – Health at every size for shreena
December 20 – More about transcription factors for lilacsigil
December 21 – Favourite pastries for syderia
December 22 – Media about British Jewish culture for randomling
December 23 – Drama for angelofthenorth
December 24 – Cool science for jack
December 25 – Commercialization of religious festivals for silveradept
December 26 – Seasonal music for ephemera
December 27 – Owls for jack
December 28 – Things that make me go hmmm for angelofthenorth
December 29 – Things ending, things beginning for silveradept
December 30 – Board games for jack
December 31 – Favourite moment of the month for zhelana

Comments

[jack]

Moar cool science (stuff that's obvious to you as well as stuff that's new to you)? Moar awesome Talmud stories? Board of Deputies? Moar board games thoughts? Owls?

I'm sorry, I'm really bad at nailing something down as something you *should* talk about, but if you could pick two to three of those and add them to the list? I'd suggest interspersed throughout the month, but whatever's easiest for you.

[silveradept]

Right around the end of the month: Things ending, things beginning.

And somewhere else: the commercialization of religious festivals (the Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon could be used as a springboard, if you like.

[watersword]

Any day: Cambridge-the-town.

[forestofglory]

So far I seem to be giving out food related prompts. (I like talking about food, I guess.) So a favorite food memory?

[sfred]

Ah, I'd forgotten what the December meme was (even though I've done it at least once). I will consider whether to do it this year and whether I can think of a prompt for you.

[kass]

Since Chanukah falls during December this year, how about a Chanukah post? Favorite thing about it, least favorite thing about it, favorite interpretation, a Chanukah memory -- whatever sounds like fun.

[hilarita]

I might try to post every day in December, modulo spending whole days travelling to another continent, and getting space to post when at my parents.It seems like a thing to try to expand what I do other than work.

[vatine]

Possibly for December 10th, your thoughts on the Nobel prizes.

[wildeabandon]

What are three non-dreamwidth blogs that you'd recommend?

[cjwatson]

I'm trying to make this different from Living abroad from your last time round, as well as trying to put a slightly inchoate thought into words, so hopefully it comes out making sense. "Homes": you have active roots in several quite geographically separate places, not only in terms of where you actually spend your time, but also communities you feel attached to. How does this affect your concept of home?

[syderia]

For December 21, I'd like you to talk about your favorite pastries.

[angelofthenorth]

Art - what do you respond to?
Music - that make you think of people
Drama - where be llamas?
Things that make you go hmmm?

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Last time you talked about places in the UK; could you tell us about your favourite places outside the UK? I'd also like, if it's not too greedy, to hear about a game you like.

[bugshaw]

Colours you saw that day.

[zhelana]

December 31 - your favorite moment of the month

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just thought of something else! On 6th December, I'm talking about family traditions, could you do that too? Feel free to ignore if you think I'm asking too many questions, though (or go back and add more of your questions to mine!)

[ceb]

What's your favourite museum?

[lilacsigil]

I would love another post about transcription factors! Why some of them just blindly copy and some have more complex roles.

[falena]

I hope this is not too personal. Work/family/social life balance? You seem to be doing it right, despite all geographical limitations and full-time work. December 8, if it's not taken yet.

[ewt]

I'd be interested in your take on poverty in the UK and elsewhere and what, if anything, you think should be done about it (and by whom).

[sfred]

For whenever you like: what would your eight Desert Island Discs be? (Optionally, also pick a book and a luxury item.)

[randomling]

I would love some recs for books/movies/other media that might give me a bit of an idea of the insider's view of British Jewish culture! (Both because personal interest and because writing.)

I am so looking forward to reading you this month. :D

[ephemera]

Seasonal music? technologies that improve your life? tea, coffee, water?

weight

[(Anonymous)]

so, I notice that you are dealing with weight and health tomorrow. My housemate, Elliot, works in a care home for people with mental health problems. There is a move afoot to introduce a compulsory weigh in once a month, apparently this is standard policy in lots of registered care homes and possibly 'best practice' according to the regulator. my housemate wants to know why this is a bad idea - assuming that it is. Would you tailor your response to Shreena to help Elliot?

YAB