Week in Review: Week 6

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. At one time we celebrated it as a national holiday. Today, though, the world little notes nor long remembers it.

This display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, is titled “Lincoln Fights Fake News.” The book is an unauthorized biography a friend sent him to fact-check after his unsuccessful 1858 Senate run. The highlights and marginalia are Lincoln’s. He notes that the bit about his first meeting Stephen A. Douglas in New Salem was “wholly wrong.”

“Lincoln Fights Fake News” at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, shows Lincoln’s commentary and marginalia on an unauthorized biography of himself. Photo by Howard Fielding.

Observations: This week’s three dispatches were all about Lincoln, based on our visit to Springfield last year. I tried to find nuggets that most people don’t know or may have forgotten, and deliver them in shorter posts. Working a theme week was a modest success. Still, more people are coming here looking for Bubble Wrap. The web offers many nuggets about Lincoln, few about my pop.

Interaction: More comments this week on three fronts: the blog itself, Faceook, and LinkedIn. As with the old column, I enjoy chatting with readers, even if they are all personal friends and family.

Professional development: Perhaps appropriate for Lincoln Week, I made my debut on LinkedIn. No surprise, most of my contacts are former co-workers from the newspaper. It’s good to catch up with them, too.

Next week: Should I (shudder!) join Twitter or some other social media? Writers and journalists seem to like to tweet, but it never appealed to me.

Also, I’m thinking about a new focus and format for this blog. And I may cut back on its frequency to work on other projects. See you Saturday!

In case you missed it

  • Cowardice or practicality, 1979

    Cowardice or practicality, 1979

    Reading Time: 2 minutes As every captain must decide whether to head in to port or continue the mission, I had to choose to limp home or explore strange new worlds.

  • A bargain I cannot afford, 1979

    A bargain I cannot afford, 1979

    Reading Time: 2 minutes The Riverside was a popular place for cheap diner food. Even so, eating out is more expensive than cooking at home, and always has been.

  • … Garp! 1979

    … Garp! 1979

    Reading Time: 3 minutes I was reading the book from a single-minded, new writer point of view, not as literature, so bear with me if 24-year-old me sounds naïve.

  • Potential for collaboration, 1979

    Potential for collaboration, 1979

    Reading Time: 2 minutes Perhaps this was another lost opportunity. Not all ideas are good ideas, but if they’re good enough to write down, they’re worth following up on.

  • In Other Words: Season 2, Episode 12

    In Other Words: Season 2, Episode 12

    Reading Time: 2 minutes I’m not a pantser poster anymore. That means I can develop and foreshadow recurring themes — and I can tell you about them.

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