![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/\nmegamansn.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Last night, the Dowbrigade had the pleasure of dining
\n with his two brothers, one of whom is a Vice President and the other
\n of whom is a Judge. Also present – little sister, now an animal breeder
\n on the Cape, and our dear old Mom, whose 75th birthday was the cause
\n of the reunion.<\/p>\n
We ate at one of those ridiculous upscale Italian
\n joints in the heart of the historic North End, where gaudy, oversized
\n plates smeared with drips and drabs of salsas and sauces failed
\n to make up for the disguised but unmistakable mediocrity of the food
\n itself. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves, as it had been a good ten
\n years since we had all broken bread together, and who knows when the
\n next chance will be.<\/p>\n
Among the talk of Supreme Court short lists, hot
\n stocks, Red Sox, cross-eyed Corgis and faded childhood squabbles
\n – painful memories, defanged by the intervening years – we were asked
\n about our midlife avocation of Blogging.<\/p>\n
How much time does it take us, we were asked, to
\n keep the Dowbrigade News up and running. Well, we explained,
\n both the nature and number of postings depends on what else is going
\n on, or not, in our so-called real life. When classes are in session,
\n and we are teaching a full load, or an overload, we are often lucky
\n to have an hour or so a day, usually late at night, after we have
\n finished grading papers, preparing labs and fixing web sites. This
\n barely suffices to surf a few of our favorite and fruitful fishing
\n grounds for a couple of odd or interesting items, add bizarre photos
\n representing, if possible, subtle visual puns, brief caustic
\n comments and clever alliterative titles. Presto! A Dowbrigade
\n posting.<\/p>\n
But during the long inter-sessions (a month or two
\n between each of 3 semesters) it is another story altogether. Then,
\n we can spend half our waking hours on-line, posting morning, noon and
\n night. We do not regret spending the other half of our time cooking,
\n eating, playing tennis, making love, wandering around outside and
\n doing other things that the virtual world has yet to successfully duplicate.
\n This is when we can write long rants and track down stories, develop
\n pieces over time, and participate in the rapier repartee for which
\n the Blogosphere is so well known.<\/p>\n
And then, there are those rare but treasured moments
\n in which we are truly engaged in Citizen Journalism, either by opportunistically
\n being in the right place at the right time, or by planning or invitation,
\n when we will become engrossed in one event or experience for days.<\/p>\n
Of course, when the Dowbrigade takes his show on
\n the road, the nature of the blogging changes completely all over again.
\n Postings may become irregular, but long, composed on long flights or
\n bus rides on our trusty laptop, or late at night in anonymous hotel
\n rooms in remote cities and villages.<\/p>\n
In short, we concluded, blogging has become an intrinsic
\n and inseparable facet of our existence, changing with our moods and
\n modes, but ever present, and evermore filtering how we see the world
\n and how we choose to let the world see us.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we were mildly surprized that our brother
\n the Judge ever read the Blog. We assume our Mom gives him the head’s
\n up, especially when we start weaving old family tales. Our Mom is the
\n only one in the family who is a regular reader, and we are quite OK with
\n that. In fact, we take some comfort that all of those with and for whom
\n we work seem completely unaware of our alternate life as a blogger, as
\n are, except for the Thursday Night crew, all of our friends and family.
\n Except Mom.<\/p>\n
Happy Birthday Ma<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night, the Dowbrigade had the pleasure of dining with his two brothers, one of whom is a Vice President and the other of whom is a Judge. Also present – little sister, now an animal breeder on the Cape, … Continue reading