So my hits on this blog tripled yesterday before falling to mostly normal levels today.
The article in which I was featured is here. The writer of the article linked to my old diaryland site, but some of the traffic that went there came back over here. Still, I would say that only about 20% of the traffic that went to the diaryland site decided to come over here. I mean, this isn't much of a weight loss blog, so interested parties probably were quickly turned away by that fact.
As this guy notes, there are plenty of blogs that probably would have been better weight loss blogs than this one. However, I have never, as he claimed, purported to be a weight loss blog. It's just one small aspect of my bloglife. If I had to classify my blog as any sort of type of blog, it would be a teacher blog. But obviously I vacillate from that topic often as well.
I thought that guy over at livinlavidalocarb was sort of a jerk in his description of this blog. He writes, "While those stories are all well and good, a successful weight loss blog is going to primarily provide insight and commentary about WEIGHT LOSS. If your blog is about what is going on in your life, then that's one thing. But if you are going to purport to be a resource for people desiring weight loss, then that should be your focus in your blog." I mean, the word choice of "purport" and caps-locking "WEIGHT LOSS" were a little much. Again, this is not something I purport to be. (I think he was a little mad he wasn't interviewed for the article for his blog, to be honest.) (And, by the way, low carb diets are a fad and only make you lose weight because you're actually just eating less food overall.)
I also think it's because I don't like seeing someone else summarize my life like he did. When I see the phrase "legal battles," I think of someone who got arrested for not paying child support and has to go to court, or someone with a DUI or something like that. Not a story of a completely innocent guy whose dog ran after a crackhouse owner mailman who thought he could get a quick buck and pay back the $20,000 he owes to the city in back taxes and fine by lying and saying the dog bit him. But neither here nor there, I guess.
Anyhow, on the subject of blogs, we have a new principal this year, and I've been a little worried about getting discovered. The Washington Post article sort of made the worry stick more. Today, we got a memo telling us not to ever speak with the press. Weird, as I don't know why the press would ever want to speak to us, and I didn't see any sort of reason why it was told to us. Immediately I thought of this blog.
I then spoke with the union leader, though, and he says I'd be totally safe if I was ever "found out." I haven't used school computers or internet access to update, and that's a good thing. I've never used real names of students, colleagues, or the school. Although I'm sure some astute readers know where I work, perhaps from meeting me at blogger happy hours, I try to stay as anonymous as I can. Plus, there is no contractual language about blogs. Someone told me that no one who is part of a union has ever been Dooced, and no teacher or public employee ever has. But you never know.
So, I worry. On occasion. Never enough to quit this thing or anything like that just yet. I mean, I enjoy this. But enough for me to think about renaming this thing "Epiphany in Large Unnamed City." Not yet, though, and it's probably just mild paranoia. I hope anyone who ever stumbles across this thing can see that I work my butt off for the kids and the school and just looks the other way. It helps that blogspot is blocked at school so no one could access it from school computers.
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13 comments:
It's sad, but you might want to be careful and password protext or excise anything where you complain about school or your students. Even though there's nothing contractually saying you can't blog, lots of people have gotten fired for "defaming" their work place. I know I moved my blog to a totally anonymous livejournal site with my full name nowhere attached-and I worry it's still not secure enough and friends only anything about school or teaching. Not to mention I worry about future job possibilities googling me. And FWIW, I think that low carb guy was a jealous ass. Perhaps it's because he hasn't had a bagel in years. Mmmm... bagels.
hmmm, this gives me serious pause...i'm working with a class of students at a local high school and i was going to do a workshop to show them how to create web logs and i was going to include links to local bloggers i thought might be interesting to them...it highlights how out of control we are in this medium as to who reads us...not that i'm planning about using yours anymore...but any thought of doing so was born out of the speculation about how i would have reacted when i was in high school to be able to read the thoughts from someone as removed from me in life-stage as a high school teacher...how would that have affected my myopic point of view as a teenager...i don't know...of course i was also thinking about whether to share my blog with them...it would certainly affect what i chose to write and post...even as a law student today i yearn to break down those artificial barriers of class and caste and trust between work colleagues and friends and professors and administrators and on (even while the dangers of doing so accumulate in the back of my mind)...anyway, you seem like a pretty rad teacher who i'd be happy to have my not yet existing kid be taught by and us cyberbuddies hopefully will be able to raise a little hell for ya if they give any troubles...
yours in unprivileged unconfidentiality,
c.o.b.
umm, you're a weight loss blog?
i had no idea. weird.
I'm not trying to be an ass, so please don't take it that way, but low carb diets are not just a fad. There's actually a whole bunch of us who have been eating that way for years. Personally I've been at it for 4+ years now. I did drop about 60 pounds, and I'm one of the few diabetics who doesn't need insulin, and I eat twice as much as I did when I was eating carbs. The "faddiness" of it came in when people would try it for 3 or 5 weeks and quit because the first month makes everyone super grouchy when they cut the carbs. Some things are worth sticking with for some people, some aren't.
I'm glad it's worked for you, but I maintain that weight loss because of low-carb diets has to do with the fact that people are just eating less in general and/or eating more efficiently, which is the cornerstone of any diet. When I hear low-carb, I think unhealthy. I know some doctors disagree, but most do not. I've spent all of my adult life reading copious amounts about health issues regarding weight, and my philosophy about low-carb diets is that most of them eliminate healthy foods and nutrients like fiber and vitamin D. People lose weight because they limit calorie intake by eliminating some high calorie foods, but most of the foods they replace it with are high in saturated fats (which leads to heart disease). So for most people it might lead to short term weight loss, but it's so super restrictive that most fall off of it, and even if they can stay on it, it can lead to longterm health defects.
Now, I do limit carbs, but I try to limit everything except protein, which I try to get 110 grams a day of.
But, the reigning philosophy of weight loss that I have is that people have to do what works for them, so if it works for you, then that's great. But I still will always hesitate when I hear someone say the low-carb lifestyle is a good one, because all I can think of is the meat industry paying off diet industry folks to get consumers to eat more meat, and Americans' consumption of fatty meats is one reason we've got so much heart disease in our country.
And I don't want to come off as a jerk either. I can get pretty opinionated about this stuff.
And, Sweetney, I'm not a weight loss blog. It's just one tiny aspect of what this journal used to be a lot about.
Gotta Love Internet Drama! I read the low carb blogger, and wow does he seem bitter. His sour grapes actually made me gigle. He also linked to his own blog far to many times. Dude, it's your blog. We don't need a link because we're already here! Congrats on beign featured in the article though. Did she interview you first, or was it a surprise?
She had e-mailed me about quoting from it, but I had no idea for what. I sent her my phone number, and she called back and left a message, saying she didn't actually need to interview me, that she'd just take stuff from the blog. I e-mailed her back saying that was okay, but by the then the article had been published.
Carl,
I think blogs are great for kids. I wish my school had enough computer access to have kids use them. But I think pointing BCPS students to this one would be a mistake for the most part.
I appreciate this discussion about weight loss blogs (of which EpiphanyInBaltimore has made it abundantly clear he is not one) because it shows people there are others out there who are struggling with their weight problem, too. That's why I created my blog and encourage people to do whatever they can to lose weight.
The Squires column listed this blog as among the weight loss blogs and that is why I referred to it as such. I apologize if you feel that was insulting to you. It was not meant to be interpreted in that manner.
As for me, I'm not bitter. I'm probably one of the most happy-go-lucky people you'd ever meet. I get passionate about low-carb because it helped me lose 180 pounds and keep it off. You'd be excited too if that happened to you.
By the way, cgg, I put a link to my blog in some of my columns because they are reprinted in various other places on the Internet, including CommonVoice.com, LowCarbNewsline.com, and others. I don't assume that people know how to get to my blog so I include a link to it for their convenience.
Again, thanks for your comments and I wish you and your readers the very best in your weight loss efforts. Take care and God bless you!
Jimmy Moore, "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man"
http://livinlavidalowcarb.blogspot.com
livinlowcarbman@charter.net
Epiph - U da slim man! Rah Digga! Seriously. This livin' la vida loco is whack. I checked his site and he's so into himself and his thoughts that you can't leave an anonymous comment, heaven forbid! Thank goodness you allow them, because I'm not a blogger, I just crush a lot.
Good luck with the school year kiddo, Congrats on gettin' recognized boyee! Shots!
Okay, I'll admit I came to peruse your blog to see what you had to say about your weight loss after reading the article in newspaper. However, I'm nosey so I proceeded to read a few of your entries eventhough recent entries had nothing to do with the weight loss. ;)
Actually lots of fatty meat does not need to be consumed in order for a low carb diet to work. I'm eating the low carb way and I find that I lose better and feel healthier when I eat boneless skinless chicken. I very rarely eat red meat. When I do it's probably not even 2x a month.
Lots of veggies are included and allowed. I eat cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, celery, bell peppers, green beans, asparagus, artichokes, and an array of other veggies on a regular basis.
Atkins is the most restrictive low carb plan in that is doesn't allow the use of whole grains, brown rice, or sweet potatoes until you get to maintainence. The South Beach Diet is less restrictive and allows the whole grains, brown rice, and sweet potatoes in the earlier phases of the diet.
It all depends on your body type. Some people do really well with low fat while others fare better doing low carb.
Hee ... I'm astute. ;)
'Member back in the good ol' days when we didn't have to worry about protecting our anonymity online and our biggest ink we got ourselves in print was the college's newspaper?
Now you're in the Washington Post and I've had one of my big projects in the New York Times!
We've come a loooooong way Mr. Epiphany!
Thinkin' about ya,
MCBK (on indefinite hiatus from my "main dot-com" becacause of similar privacy reasons and real life evil-exbf stalkers)
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