Share or Share Alike

So, I have a ton of thoughts that have been percolating in my head the last few weeks, but unfortunately have not had much time to put them down onto these pages (life as a law school graduate hasn't translated into more free time as I was hoping....or at least it hasn't yet).

Two things that I wanted to share:

#1: A recent article in the NY Times Magazine focused on the issue of online "oversharing", where bloggers open windows into extremely personal details of their private lives for their readers. I'm decidedly not an oversharer. In fact, though I originally started blogging as an experiment to replace the diary that I usually keep when I travel to interesting destinations, my posts don't convey the same private details that I would write in a journal intended for my eyes only. I wonder what kind of image I conjure in the mind of a reader to this blog who doesn't know me personally. They know that I pack my own brown bag lunch, that I have opinions, enjoy sharing them and that most of them are progressive politically. They know that I live in New York but I'm originally from D.C. Otherwise, they read about the experiences that I choose to share, but they certainly aren't familiar with my daily routine. If they saw me on the street, they would walk right by me. They don't really know anything about my family or about my social life. All of this is pretty intentional on my part, though that doesn't mean that all blogs should avoid broadcasting the writer's personal details. I feel however, that writing for public consumption is distinguishable from writing about my private life for public consumption, and I'm not ready to engage in the latter.

#2: On Tuesday night I attended Hillary Clinton's "The race is over-but-I'm-not-quite-ready-to-concede speech." As I've pointed out on these pages before, I know I'm biased, but her speech was actually well delivered and underscored the personal relationship she has established with voters across the country and with her supporters. Hillary may not be the finest of orators, but her speeches are imbued with a sense of her bearing personal witness to the issues that this country faces, and this makes her words inspiring in their own right. Besides having a chance to catch up with some of the truly impressive individuals I met during the last few months, Tuesday night also marked the effective end of my involvement in the Clinton campaign. It's certainly hard seeing the primaries wind up after having devoted so much of my own time and effort into the race. And I felt a creeping wistfulness knowing that one of the greatest primary races in modern history was drawing to a close. Now however, I'm turning to the next page in this lengthy but extraordinary presidential election cycle and will start gearing up for the general election. I'm not quite ready to hit the ground for Obama, but will certainly get myself into that mindset over the next few weeks and months so that the Democratic party can take the White House in November.