I think I’m slowly figuring out what little niche I should wiggle into here in the blogosphere. I think I’m a docent. An internet docent.
Yeah, traditionally, a docent is “a voluntary worker who acts as a guide in a museum, art gallery, etc.” You know. The typically elderly person who hands you the pamphlet, directs you to the exhibit in question, and maybe, just maybe can add a little something. But, the docent didn’t paint it. He didn’t sculpt it. She didn’t compose it, etc. They just point you towards it. (Apologies to the many well-informed and articulate docents out there…)
Anyway, that’s me. Most of my posts, like my most recent one on “How Much Are You Worth?” aren’t witty or insightful. They don’t require anything more from me than an ability to consider whether more thoughtful people like Nance or Sheria, who both commented on it, would find the news item I featured to be worth reading. I just pointed to the item in question. “It’s over there.”
In contrast, their comments, and more importantly posts like this one from Nance and this one from Sheria, are works of art here in web-land. Their blogs are insightful and extremely well written, making them a joy to read, with their points and/or phrases often returning to my thoughts again and again. Blogs like theirs, and countless others, are the reason we sit before our keyboards rather than our televisions.
Me? I just hand out the pamphlets.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Books/Movies/Podcasts, etc., Rants and Musings
You know that a significant piece of this whole blogging thing is ego; thank you for stroking mine. Thanks also for pointing me to Nance’s blog. If you are a docent, then you’re a damn good docent. I happen to think that you are also much more. I always value your comments and your blog posts.
I entered this blogging world so recently, just this past August. I really needed a docent in the form of a quality site with blogroll links to similar quality. Can’t even remember how I first got here, but I’ve found wonderful things by following your lead. I’m always pleased to find a new jack-of-all-thumbs post in my Reader.
Voila! You’ve generated one of those rare and prized things, a Mutual Admiration Society, This feels like the very soul of a Christmas gift.
There are worst things than being a docent. But of course, after time, the docent becomes part of the attraction, and the experience just is not the same without them.