The Delusional Architect

If you look real hard, you’ll see that I made some real progress late last night in transforming my new version of In a Dark Time to my vision of what I want the site to look like. I converted to MySQL and Movabletype 2.5 by following Jonathan’s advice and by getting a little help from “girlie” at the MovableType Support Forum (these program are certainly tougher on “typo’s” than I ever was as an English teacher).

After that it was relatively easy to add the Search feature over there in the left hand column, another feature I had to leave the old I.S.P. behind in order to incorporate into my site. I say “relatively” easily because it did take about an hour and a half of research and cutting and pasting to figure out how to include it, without also giving everyone the ability to actually “edit” the entries(why is that the default?).

The next feature, I’m afraid, will take considerably more time than that. Again, following Jonathan’s suggestion, I’m going to try to use Brad Choate’s MySQL plug-in for Movable Type to build the list of poets and books I’ve reviewed. I spent a while today glancing over the instructions and was left wondering if I am going to have to learn SQL Basic in order to do this. (I may yet have to take Shelley up on her offer to help out, though she certainly seems to have more than enough of her own to do.)

After reading all the recent discussions of mental illness, I’m beginning to wonder if my addiction to this site and to my vision of what it should become wouldn’t qualify as some form of mental illness. What started as a mild diversion has nearly become an obsession, ever expanding to take up all the “extra” time I have.

I’m beginning to suspect, though, that what I’m trying to do on this web site really had its genesis when I was still teaching. As a research paper teacher, I thought that the web had immense potential as a research tool. Unfortunately, attempts at research often revealed that there was very little quality work out there. Too few people seemed willing to post quality writing on the web, probably because it meant giving their work away for free. Knowing that most small literary magazines that one can find in college libraries are not profitable and were subsidized by colleges, I found it strange that few of them appeared on the internet, a much cheaper mode of distribution.

Now, I understand people should make money from their writings, but if, as it appears, there is little money to be made in academic writing, why hasn’t more of it appeared on the internet, particularly since it has the potential to draw a larger audience to poetry, an audience poetry desperately needs if it is going to ever become profitable again?

Well, this site is my attempt to do precisely that. I’;m not going to delude myself into believing that this is the kind of analysis that would appear in college journals. It’s never been intended to do that. Nor can a student simply come here and find the kind of essay that would satisfy a high school teacher or college professor. Hopefully, though, it provides a starting point for thinking about the poets and writers that I cover here. I’ve even replied to some students who wrote asking questions about poets I’ve discussed. I’ve tried to ask the kind of leading questions that I asked my own students when they asked for my help. Generally, the students have responded with polite “thank you’s,”; not complaining because I wouldn’t give them an answer.

If this site is an addiction, and it may well be, I’m beginning to suspect that Jonathan may be my”enabler” urging me on to fulfill a crazy vision of what I want this site to become. I don’t remember what his Brigg’s Meyer profile is, but he is certainly feeding into my INTP, the delusional architect of a vast, all-encompassing website.

9 thoughts on “The Delusional Architect”

  1. Well, I’m not sure Jonathan wants to be known as an “enabler.” It’s one of those ambiguous terms like “burningbird,” I think.

    But it’s hard not to forgive someone who is constantly helping you, isn’t it?

  2. Well, it’s better than ‘pusher’, isn’t it?

    As for being helpful, this is going to give him a huge head, but Jonathon is one of the most decent people I know, weblogging or no.

    And not just because he’s my Tim Tam pusher man.

  3. Well, that’s nice to know, Dorothea.

    I know I was a little shocked when I first searched my site and found that ability in there.

    I would hate to think that you had the power to change angelic little Kel into a witch’s familiar.

  4. Well, this is kind of like walking into a room and realizing people have been talking about you. Except you know what they’ve been saying. I had to make an icepack and put it on my head to bring down the swelling.

    “Enabler” seems somewhat grandiose given the small amount I actually did. That’s something you don’t want to lose sight of, Loren: I briefly held the bike steady and gave you a push, but you learned to ride very quickly and you’ve pedaled a long way on your own.

    The real pleasure for me, now, is coming back to your site and seeing the refinements you’ve progressively implemented without my assistance. I’ve always loved and admired In a Dark Time and I’m proud to have played a small role in its Markover.

    As it happens, I’m an INFJ. Here’s what Keirsey and Bates say about this type:

    “INFJs focus on possibilities, think in terms of values, and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type (1 percent) is regrettable, since INFJs have an unusually strong drive to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their fellow men.”

    What a pity there aren’t more of me…

    And yes, you’ll need to learn some SQL. The best book I’ve encountered is Ben Forta’s Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672321289/). The title is nonsensical because it’s really 10 minutes per lesson and there are around 20 lessons. But it’s absolutely excellent (and only $10.50 from Amazon).

  5. I’ll look for the book tomorrow locally and if they don’t have it I’ll order it from Amazon with enough of the other books on my wish list to make it worthwhile, Jonathon.

    Jeez, I thought only we INTP’s were that rare. Do you think they tell each group that they only make up one percent of the population?

  6. No, it’s just (partly) that the population is shifting somewhat. Used to be most people tested as E; I believe this has shifted to very slightly in favor of I.

    N’s are outnumbered considerably by S’s, also.

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