Seven answers on 7Q (also known as the FAQs of life.)				Interviewed by Tom Mangan Mike Reed, Tennessean, online diarist His Web site is here. Previously Q'd here		AUTHORS Michael Fuchs Elizabeth Hilts Paul Riddell Gary Rivlin Jim Motavalli Barbara Shafferman Jules Siegel Keith Snyder ARTISTS/POETS/ PHILOSOPHERS Jon C. Allen Will Baker Mike Leung Jon Sarkin COOL SITE KEEPERS Mike Cash Scott O'Neal Colf Godfrey Daniels Cliff Davis, DDS Tammy Hocking Wes Modes Frank Rogan DIARISTS Ralph Becker J. D. Bruns Linda DeVault Mike Reed Moira Richardson Jessamyn West FILMMAKERS Ben Kufrin Dean Mermell JOURNALISTS Bernie Mary Cooley-Jones Lindsay Crysler Jamie Dupree M.O.A.T.M.A.I. David Moll Robert Niles John Orr Steven Ovadia Pierce Presley Mack Reed Rip Rense Curtis Ross Neal Ross John Scalzi Catherine Seipp David Sheets Dwight Silverman Matt Welch MOVIE MAVENS MaryAnn Johanson Brian Koller HUMORISTS Debbie Farmer Mike Jasper Madeleine Begun Kane Patrick Keller Bob Sassone Valerie Sprague Ken Swarmer Ian Wolff SOLDIERS Maj. Jon Anderson, USAF TEACHERS John Warner TECHIES Chris Adamson Mike Gunderloy Michael Ivey Greg Knauss Floyd Maxwell Ellen McDonough Mike Pingleton Wayne Thume John Worth TEENS Gary Baum Marty Beckerman UNDECLARED Bev Gibbs Beth Reid WEBLOGGERS Jason Kottke Jish Mukerji
ONE				The length and breadth of the journal posts at your site suggest at least two possibilities: a) They're happening at the expense of some vital part of your life (career, family, personal hygiene); b) you're making the rest of us personal Web site keepers look bad by keeping up such a blazing pace. What do you make of such an assessment? The response that makes me look best would have something to do with my amazing time management skills, but one of my Y2K resolutions is to quit the out-and-out lying. Personal hygiene is a priority in my life, so that's not it. My family life is what's being documented for the most part, so I have to pay attention on that front. The job affords me time in the mornings to surf the Web and write, but I somehow manage to. Evidently I've struck upon some secret formula for prolifacy (and for making up words). What I find unusual is that you're not the first to question how it's possible to keep up this blistering pace. There are plenty of journalers out there who update daily. Some sites feature journal entries, original art work, and weblogs every day. I look at those guys and think they must be crazy. If anything is suffering, it's my snooze time. Between the toddler and having to be at work in the morning, I'm not getting nearly as much sleep as I did in college.
TWO				Online diarists inevitably post something about someone and find themselves working their way out of a jam for having done it. What's your most successful strategy for extricating yourself from such troubles? The main thing to keep in mind when reading someone's public journal is that you're seeing only that part of their persona that they allow you to see. Several good journals have disappeared because the author's didn't want to deal with the petty attacks of fellow journalers or readers any longer. So I try to avoid that situation on the front end. I have, however, stepped over the line on one occasion that I can recall. I'd been corresponding with a fellow journaler who's day job is police officer. We were discussing a recent court decision regarding the legality of chasing someone who simply runs when he sees a cop. I posted the guy's answer to my question and added "There you have it, folks, straight from the pig's mouth." He didn't appreciate that and let me know it. Rather than call attention to it in a subsequent entry and digging myself further into the hole, I changed the entry to say "horse," reposted it, and sent him an e-mail apology. So in my experience, the best way to deal with a private dispute in a public forum is to take the discussion private, make your peace, and move on to the next victim. Rehashing bad blood back and forth only leads to more piling on from the peanut gallery.
THREE				What part of your real life do you keep off the pages of your online journal? Any examples of something you were tempted to write about but thought better of? Now you know better than that. Actually, I'm pretty open in my journal. I don't talk too much about my job or co-workers because they're genuinely good people and that makes for boring copy. There have been a couple of times in which I've become privy to information unfit for public consumption. Sometimes the person telling me will add parenthetically "This is not for you to put in your journal." I always yield to the wishes of my friends. Other times I avoid commenting on some local scandal beyond pointing out the existence of it. We had a local teacher who was caught touching his students and was transferred to the "alternative" high school (where the students would most-likely not let him get away with such behavior). My wife, being a teacher, heard a lot of inside dope on the case which she naturally shared with me, her loving husband. None of that made it into the journal. Like many people, I blow off steam about the hassles of working a day job. But because of the public nature of my job and the Web, I don't talk about it very much. I try to stick to things that interest me, not anger me or open me up to attacks.
FOUR				Something I try to ask daddies of toddlers, if I remember: What's your boy Max done lately that makes it clear he's just like the ol' man? I see a bit of myself in the tyke most any time he gets distracted by something on the TV. If "Teletubbies" is on, there's no getting his attention short of blocking the screen. The same goes for "Pooh" and a host of other toddler icons. He also looks a lot like I did as a toddler. We have a painting of me as a little baby hanging in the house. It looks so much like Max, I have to let people know it's me when they see it. Lately, he's been fascinated with my laptop. He received some Pooh toddler software for Christmas and (under the strictest of supervision) have allowed him to use the computer to play. Now I can't boot up the computer to work without fending off a toddler yelling "Pooh. Pooh. Pooh." I shudder to think of where this might lead. I was in sixth grade before I ever saw a computer. Max has been online practically since birth.
FIVE				I have a feeling not many people have much of an idea of what you do for a living Can you describe your job, and why the taxpayers of Tennessee should feel confident that their dollars are well spent where your salary is concerned? Officially, my title is Editor in the Office of News & Public Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University. Most of my job consists of layout and design of the official university newspaper. Additionally, I write and edit news releases, work on various Macintosh network problems, attend a lot of committee meetings and advise the student newspaper editors about layout and design. The taxpayers of Tennessee have much more to worry about than how much money I'm making. Since MTSU is a state school, part of our funding does come from state dollars, but most of it comes from alumni donations and development campaigns. When you get down to the roots of the situation, my job is to promote MTSU both within the campus and throughout the community. The more people who hear about us, the more people who attend. The more people who attend, the more alumni to hit up for donations. The more alumni to hit up, the more money to pay me. Believe me, it doesn't help me sleep any better at night knowing my place on the food chain.
SIX				As long as we're on the subject of higher ed, what do you make of the complaints about "tenured radicals" on college campuses? Radicals need to earn a living, too. Tenure does not mean a teacher can't be fired. There are plenty of ways to fire an incompetent teacher, even one who has tenure. All it takes is an administrator who doesn't mind getting off his well-padded duff and taking a gander at what's going on in the college. I hear the argument made (even by some teachers) that tenure is a bad thing because it's not offered in other "real" jobs. One does not get tenure after three years of pushing paper at the salt mine. But the purpose of tenure is to protect competent teachers from too much interference by school boards, administrators and outside agitators. Without the security tenure provides, plenty of radicals would be out of a job, sure, but who would benefit? Certainly not students, who are now straddled with an educator who wouldn't dream of coloring outside the lines. It is the radicals who need the most protection. I find it's also good to keep them on campuses and out of public office. On today's modern college campuses, there are very few instances in which one must take the class of a radical in order to graduate. Usually there are other instructors or classes one may substitute. So I don't see it as a major problem.
SEVEN				Where's the coolest place to be in Murfreesboro ? On I-24 passing rapidly through it. Actually, Murfreesboro has a lot of history. Main Street still boasts plenty of antebellum homes. Every time I drive toward the public square, I try to imagine what Murfreesboro was like when Andrew Jackson rode his walking horse down that same street, right up to the court house and announced his candidacy for speaker of the house. Murfreesboro was the state capital then. The side streets are filled with bungalows in every sort of architectural style. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a historical marker or point of interest. All of which is interesting, but not particularly cool. The 'boro is just like a bunch of other small Southern towns. It just happens to be located about 1/2 hour outside Nashville, has access to an Interstate, hosts a large regional university, and was the site of a major Civil War battle. All of which is interesting, but not particularly cool. If you take a look at a map of Tennessee and pinpoint its exact geographical center, your finger will hit Murfreesboro. There is a stone monolith in town at the exact point. I think that's pretty cool. But I'm a geek.
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