Want a really easy way to add links to your template (your side-column)? Try Blogrolling.

Several of you have asked how to tell when someone links to your blog. It's simple. Just go to Technorati and type in your blog address.

St. Valentine's Day Reflections
I've noticed several cynical posts in the blogosphere about Valentine's Day, so I decided to do a little research. Who was St. Valentine? Is the day that bears his name just about wasting money on cards and confections? Here's what i learned from the History Channel, that tele-visual font of knowledge:
"One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death."
"According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today."
So for those of you who don't want to get pinned down by an overweening sweetheart, when he or she asks "Will you be my Valentine?" you may respond this way: "No I won't, since I am neither saint nor martyr you will have to settle for me being your lover, friend, f___k buddy, or whatever--anything but your Valentine!"
For myself, I plan to take my Iranian neighbor out to dinner Saturday evening, but only in a casual way. (I haven't yet followed up with the author whose website I shared with you all earlier.) My neighbor will be good company though. I'm beginning to think that "axis of evil" should be renamed "axis of booty" since Persian women like my neighbor are extraordinarily attractive, as are Persian men if that's your preference. In any event, I think we might all do well to make this Valentine's day a "Black Love Day." We can start that celebration today, since today, Friday, is in fact Black Love Day. But you're not black? Don't worry, we white folks and brown folks and folks of other tinctures can enjoy it too, since according to Ayo Handy-Kendi, who started Black Love Day, the color Black represents the mix of ALL colors.

Btw, John, who is that magistrate? Might be a friend of mine!

Following up on the Janet/Justin conversation, Ivan points out that we never really addressed why Europeans are far less squeamish about sex. I suspect that the answer has something to do with our Puritan heritage, or in general with our history of religious utopianism. All I can say for sure is that this HBO series has opened my eyes to just how much more comfortable many other societies seem to be with sexuality.

I can only get 205.9 hitting that damn penguin!
Update: Just hit 320.3, with a nice line drive that bounced several times. That's the trick. The pop flies look dramatic (they disappear off the top of the browser window) but they don't get the distance.

And Happy Birthday (belatedly) to the owner of bloggy.
:)

Looking at comments across the blogosphere of my courses, I find that I need to say more about why we are blogging. Apparently I haven't made it clear enough yet, though for thoughtful input on the issue see penetration station. There are several reasons.
1) Blogging gives us an avenue for dialogue to continue outside of class.
2) Blogging creates a space for students to share reflections on what happens inside of class as well as on how ideas in class relate to experiences outside of class.
3) Blogging encourages students to become more cohesive as a class, by getting to know each other's concerns. It engenders community.
4) Blogging allows for the sharing of expertise related to class assignments.
5) Blogging encourages the habit of "producing" and "sharing," rather than always just "consuming," news, information, and observations.
6) Blogging allows for me, as teacher, to have a real-time record of student progress on projects, and a continually updated source of feedback about how I'm doing in the classroom.
7) Blogging allows the blogger to have an electronic diary, a record of his or her thoughts that is arranged chronologically and is accessible from any web-connected computer.
8) Blogging is rapidly supplementing traditional forms of communication both in terms of how people get their news and in the context of how business organizations communicate. For those of you who regularly complain that assignments in classes often don't relate to the outside world, you guys in particular should be embracing blogging. And see my earlier post linking to a story about blogs at Harvard.

Most of you seem to have no problem finding topics to post on and others to link to. For those of you who need more specific guidance, here are some suggestions:
1) Post about what you thought about what happened in class that day. If it is not a class day, post about your progress on course-related projects or assignments.
2) Post about a particular issue that interests you. One student regularly posts on gay rights issues, another on political news in general, several on their daily experiences with Denison social life, etc. Even the blog conversations that take place between athletics team members and frat/sorority members are interesting.
3) Link to a classmate's post that says something that made you think. It doesn't have to be something related to your own post. I have given you permission to link to posts on blogs belonging to students in my other classes as well. That means you have over 90 blogs to link to, each with many different posts. Surely you can find SOMETHING to link to.
4) Choose to blog on one of the many good topics offered by the universe of wigglebeewoo.
5) Hang on! Starting next week I will be assigning more specific blog topics. I wanted you guys to get used to the medium first.

COMM 101, Assignment for Monday:
No new figures for Monday, but you should each go back to your group blog and list your six rhetorical figures above the SoU along with a brief definition of each and a link to Silva Rhetoricae. Several of you have already done this.
For the rhetorical figures assignments, I will not give a group-grade. I will go through the group blogs and check to see that each person has scanned the SoU for his or her six assigned figures, and I will give individual grades on this basis.

Clarification about Group Blogs:
I am sorry that this comes so late. I have discovered that you can use your same username and password to access both your personal blog and your group blog. If I had known this earlier it doubtless would have saved you guys some trouble. If you've already chosen a new username and password to join your group blog, you'll have to go with that, unless you want to have your group blog administrator send you another invitation to join, and then rejoin the group blog with your original (personal blog) username and password. This might require your administrator to delete you from the group blog first, I don't know. If anyone does this let us know.

COMM 101:
Several of you haven't yet done your first assignment with the rhetorical figures, more less your second one (due tomorrow morning). I know that some of the figures are hard to figure out (pardon the pun), but do your best. I will grade you on effort. Some of your figures may not be in the SoU. If that's the case just let me know that you looked. In any case, if you haven't already, get these two assignments done ASAP. After tomorrow I will start counting off for late work.

IMPORTANT:
I have noticed that several of you have neglected to post every day (every week day that is--Saturday and Sunday not required), or to link your posts to others. Remember that the blog grade is 1/3 of your course grade. Come on people. This really isn't Camp Denidoo. In point of fact it's one of the top liberal arts universities in the country. We're not making things with construction paper and pipe cleaners and Elmer's glue and felt here. I want you to develop the habit of expressing your thoughts on these weblogs. Some students are doing a rather good job of this. They will be rewarded. Those who aren't keeping up won't. As I've told you, as we get further into the semester I will begin to assign more specific and course-related blog posts. But I wanted you to master the medium before I began to assign more weighty blog topics on a regular basis.