Notes from Limmud and elsewhere

[lethargic_man]

Well, it's nearly Limmud again, and I've still got a whole pile of notes to type up from last year's Limmud, and the Marom Beit Midrash, and the last two or three rounds of the New North London Learning programme. Before I launch myself into another frenzy of note-taking, can I do a quick straw poll: how many of you read and appreciate these notes I post?

Whilst some of them generated lively discussions, fully half of the fifteen sets of notes I've posted, received either no comment at all (four), or only a single comment by a single person (four), of which three only an "interesting" from snjstar, who is offline at present so no longer doing so.

Some people gets lots of "cool!"s in response to their blog postings; perhaps because I don't have such a large flist, I don't, and I'd like to feel the effort was appreciated. :-S

Comments

[liv]

I always read your Limmud notes (and all your other posts). You are so thorough that there often isn't anything to say beyond interesting. I'm not terribly good at commenting to say so when I appreciate a post; I'm actually more likely to comment when I have some problem with it, so I can argue. And that goes for people in general, not just you.

But don't make typing up your learning stuff into a huge chore; otherwise you'll just resent doing it, and won't get as much out of the actual talks. You should only post about stuff if you actually want to share it with people! Obviously LJ isn't an obligation.

Also, your summary page is very cool. A way to do it more automatically (though not as prettily) is to tag each post limmud, and then you can get a journal-type view of all your posts at http://www.livejournal.com/users/lethargic_man/tag/limmud. Though knowing you you've probably already automated that summary thing, in which cas this advice is irrelevant.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

But don't make typing up your learning stuff into a huge chore; otherwise you'll just resent doing it, and won't get as much out of the actual talks. You should only post about stuff if you actually want to share it with people! Obviously LJ isn't an obligation.

It's not so much that it's a chore as that atm between that and email and social life I don't have any time for writing. Admittedly, I don't have the urge to do any atm, and haven't for some time, but this is not a situation I imagine myself being happy with in the longer run.

[liv]

This is a complicated problem. In a sense writing up your Jewish learning notes is taking time away from writing fiction, but by your own admission you probably wouldn't be using the time to write fiction anyway. I really don't know what to do about finding the motivation to write, especially if you're unhappy about not writing.

But for the time being, set that aside: is writing up notes taking time away from other things you would rather be doing? If so, stop doing it! If it's not, you might as well continue, and since it's not an obligation, if it comes to the point where you no longer have time, whether because you start writing again, or because your social life expands, or whatever, then just stop at that point.

[tea-cantata.livejournal.com]

I do read them about 2/3 of the time (possibly more), even if I don't entirely understand them all the time. Yes, please do keep posting them - I tend not to comment because there are only so many ways to say "That's very interesting, but this is an outsider's opinion here and I didn't know that but yeah". IYSWIM.

go on with writing

[(Anonymous)]

The same with me. I like to read them but don't really have an awful long time to think about them. I sometimes don't understand it properly. I am trying to comment when I don't understand something or have another opionion.

S.O

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Do ask if there's anything you don't understand and would like explained.

I have an account

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

Heya, I have an account now. Just to let everybody know.
I don't really have a lot on it now.

Go on with writing notes from seminars and talks. I love to read it.

S.O