I don't normally blog about "political stuff" here. And Michael Balter's blog is usually(and mostly) "political stuff". With which you, the Gentle Reader who might link to this blog, may disagree. Or not.
However, there are two reasons why I have made an exception(as for a few other things I've stowed in my "other" section. First, Michael Balter is also a science writer for the journal Science. He writes articles there frequently. And he teaches science journalism at a college in Boston(Boston College, I think). When he's not teaching, or writing articles for Science, he's in Paris, so he has a much more "global" outlook than many. And his science journalism, in contrast to many other so-called "science journalists", is very good indeed. His latest article(in Science, naturally), is on the so-called "paleo-Eskimos"(except that they were apparently no relation to present-day Eskimo/Inuit people).
So why, one might ask, is this writer featuring the blog of a science writer who writes mostly "political stuff", when this blog is mostly about writers, writing, medieval times, Neandertals, and my own Great Medieval Science Fiction Masterpiece With Neandertals, in progress? The answer, for me, at least, is easy. You see, I was(and still am) keenly interested in wolves. And in learning about wolves, I've learned a lot about arctic regions, where these people lived. This led me to learning something about glacial advances and retreats, and yup, Neandertals, although I didn't make use of this particular knowledge for a long time. Which led me right back to my anthropology "roots". Which --- eventually --- led me to start writing this Great Medieval Science Fiction Masterpiece With Neandertals. And no, it doesn't have wolves in it, because I can't figure out a way to logically put them in. Nor does it yave any "paleo-Eskimios". I never even thought about putting them in!
Still, I have to thank Mr. Balter for reminding me of some of my literary "roots" And my thanks is to link his blog to mine. And no, I will not usually be commenting on "political stuff", unless it is very, very important. There are plenty of "opinion" blogs out there. Perhaps I will add a few of the better ones, from time to time, if I feel it is necessary. For now, Michael Balter's blog is plenty.
Anne G
Redheaded Neanderlady
This is a photoshopped version of something I found in National Geographic about the time I started researching
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4 comments:
Thank you so much for these very kind words, Anne. I already have your blog on my blogroll and will be sure that my readers are informed about what is going on on yours.
btw it is Boston University, not Boston College, although there are so many colleges in the Boston/Cambridge area that it is easy to get them confused!
Thanks for putting my blog on your blogroll. I checked mine and found that you weren't on it. I have been following your discussions, both political and nonpolitical, since you put it up.
And I apologize for not getting your college affiliation right. I was more or less going by memory here, and my memory isn't always accurate! Anyway, Boston University has a fine reputation, and they are lucky to have you there. I hope, BTW, you are enjoying your time in Paris. And I look forward to anything else your blog has to offer.
Anne g
Thanks Anne, for putting me onto Michael Balter's blog. I don't mind politics at all, especially when, like his, they match mine almost seamlessly. He also does some quite good scientific stuff.
Richard:
I don't mind politics, per se, it's just that there are a lot of "political" blogs out there, and they have one job to do, I think I have another. So this is still going to be primarily a writing oriented blog. However, since my particular writing has Neandertals in it, and my work in progress(WIP)is set in medieval times, there will be discussions on these things, too.
The other reason I'm keeping "politics" out of this blog for the most part is, there are some people who have quite different political viewpoints from yours, Michael Balter's and, to some extent, mine. And they get rather upset if they see "politics" intruding on what they think is the "purity" of something else. Many of these people are perfectly nice and have good ideas in other areas that I'm willing to listen to, and I really don't want to lose the input or potential input of these people. So, since some things are quite contentious, I'm simply avoiding them, unless something so overwhelming happens that there's no avoiding it. Nevertheless, Balter's blog is linked in here, simply because he is one of the best science writers around. And unfortunately, there are very few of those.
Anne G
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