Blogs: News, Politics, Religion, Coffee, Education & More
Best of Blogs - Web logs are today's coffee shop talks, offering another outlet for conversation
By Brian Bethel / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 2, 2005
Steve Harris of Brownwood has always been interested in what he calls ''the rest of the story.''
A subscriber to multiple newspapers, and satellite television and radio, he also visits online news sites and listens to local talk radio and regional broadcasts to find topics to share with others.
Now, the Internet has allowed him to discuss issues and events with the world beyond his daily visitors to his Brownwood business, Steves' Market and Deli.
''Our blog is a small continuation of the rich and diverse history of the role that coffee shops and small cafes have played throughout history regarding discussions and information sharing,'' he wrote in an e-mail.
Web logs - ''blogs'' as they are known - have boomed in popularity. A variety of Web sites offer space for those who want to have their own unique voice in the wilds of the World Wide Web. Topics include politics, religion, music and personal stories and struggles.
Some blogs become quite popular, such as the one belonging to Highland Church of Christ Pastor Mike Cope. It gets about 2,000 hits per day.
''I've tried to create a kind of online community - minus, of course, the important aspects of community that demand physical presence - with Highland members and much beyond that,'' he said.
Other bloggers are happy to have a place where they can be themselves.
''The basic topic/goal of my blog,'' said Candy Gilbert, 49, ''is to put into words some of the thoughts swirling around in my head. Nothing loftier than that. Sure, I kept a journal, but that was different. No one reads that. My blog is out there for all to see. It's interesting to me to see what I have the courage to put in it.''
A Nose for News
Harris said his blog, created in September 2004, specializes in current events.
''I believe that everything is local and that includes issues and injustice that some would prefer to deny or avoid discussing. Blogs are just one more avenue where these issues can be discussed,'' Harris said.
Calling his readership ''diverse and engaged,'' Harris said visitor comments vary from ''some good, some bad and some ugly.''
Recent posts included a story about coffee cups with a quote about homosexuality being pulled from Baylor University's Starbuck's coffee house; reprinted editorial pieces on politics; and commentary on recent Brownwood events.
Harris said keeping a blog has taught him about dedication.
''I'm interested in searching for what I call 'the rest of the story,' and that often takes time and dedication to search it out!'' he said.
He's found stories that he feels need to be shared with a wider audience.
''Example: It was the Brownwood chapter of the NAACP that was a major force in getting the State Fair of Texas Midway desegregated,'' he said. ''I'd say that is a pretty important Civil Rights story. Important enough to me that I've documented it on my blog.''
A Place for Politics
Plenty of blogs cater to political tastes.
Dave Haigler runs a public-policy news blog ''mainly for Democrats,'' he said. It runs heavy on reprinted news articles and opinion pieces.
''My idea is that anyone who reads (my blog) and little else would still be well-read on public policy,'' he said.
The blog replaces a Web page newsletter that took Haigler five hours to publish five pages. By using DemLog, Haigler can add a new article to his blog in five to 10 minutes.
Haigler said he likes keeping a blog because it reminds him of a desire to ''get to the bottom of things and know the facts,'' he said.
Perhaps the most fun for him is blogging a local story on friends - especially those with lots of pictures, he said.
''The way people light up when you write about them - you'd think they were being interviewed by CBS Evening News or some real professional media outfit,'' he said.
Anson Middle School teacher Mike Cable has two blogs, one devoted to music and one to Texas politics.
''As an educator, a lot of my colleagues were asking me where I was getting my information about what the Legislature was doing about education,'' he said. ''I realized that ... few (blogs) dealt with Texas politics exclusively.''
The few that did ''often contained language and vitriol that wasn't appropriate for the workplace,'' he said. ''So I decided to create a blog to link to the news articles, editorials and blog posts I was reading.''
A Melody of Music
Similarly, others asked Cable where he got some of the music he was finding on the Internet. He decided to share.
Thus, ''Killing Floor Blues'' was born, a blog devoted to MP3 audio files of ''the kind of music I like,'' Cable said.
''While it is loosely shaped around the blues, I post links to R&B, soul, jazz, bluegrass, classic country and anything else I feel like. The music I link to is probably on average as old as I am - 40 years plus.''
His music readership gets about 130 user hits per day, and he said he's surprised by the number of international users.
Cable's blog has made him consider the problems surrounding intellectual property rights.
''Unlike peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, MP3 blogs for the most part concentrate on obscure, out-of-print and copyright-expired music,'' he wrote. ''I'm not offering the entire Beatles catalog for free. I'm offering a few cuts from Bessie Smith, or maybe Dinah Washington, and encouraging the listener to buy some more.''
Blogging has allowed him to ''connect with the entire world and makes you think about how you want to make those connections,'' he wrote.
A Matter of Faith
One of the best-read local blogs, pastor Mike Cope's Web log regularly gets comments and questions.
Cope has been keeping the blog for about two years, he said.
Often, he writes his own takes on current events, with the eye of a minister. On the recent Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Cope wrote, after recalling his own trips to the Crescent City:
''Somehow, have managed in all those trips to avoid seeing the 28 percent of that great city who live below the poverty line ... . I'm mad at me. All those trips to New Orleans and I didn't see these people who matter as much to God as my own sons.''
Cope has regularly written about personal tragedies, from a January 2005 wreck that injured his son, Cody Cope, to the loss of his daughter, Megan, about 10 years ago. Matters of faith color practically every post.
But readers do get to see a large portion of his personality.
''Diet Dr Pepper is my drink addiction. If Jesus were alive today, he'd turn the water to Diet DP ... On a normal day, I can get by on one can. If I put down a second can, you can tell the stress level is high,'' Cope posted.
While not as high profile as Cope's blog, Candy Gilbert also writes about her personal faith-journey.
She said she is ''always amazed'' when someone comes up to her and says they read her blog, which began in April 2004.
''But I have very much enjoyed the camaraderie of blogging,'' she said. ''There's a whole other world out there ... . It's interesting how you can build a relationship with someone over time that may live in another country or around the world just because you read each other's blogs. I feel like I know some of these people in a deeper, different way than I know my own friends. But then you'll usually write things you won't actually say, or at least I know I'm that way.''
Gilbert said she believes people are starved for deeper communication and connection, but that they are afraid to go to those depths with people they see regularly.
''Sometimes, I'll sit down and write a post and sit back and wonder where that came from,'' she said. ''Those are my favorite ones. They're usually the ones that get the most feedback, too. That's when I know God is using my blog to possibly reach someone out there in a place they've closed off.''
Some Local / Area Blogs
DemLog: www.demlog.blogspot.com
Mike Cope's Web Log: www.mikecope.blogspot.com
Candy Gilbert's Web Log: www.candygilbert.blogspot.com
Steve Harris' Web Log: www.stevesmarketanddeli.com/blogger.htm
Killing Floor Blues: www.killingfloorblues.blogspot.com
Texas Politics: www.texaspoliticsblog.blogspot.com
Want your own blog? Try:
www.blogger.com
www.livejournal.com
www.xanga.com
www.myspace.com
Contact Wellness Writer Brian Bethel at 676-6739 or bethelb@reporternews.com.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/fe_family/article/0,1874,ABIL_10579_4125294,00.html
---------------
History of Cafe's, Coffee & Coffee Shops
-----------
-----------
Books and Biscotti
High school students are abuzz with local library coffee shops
By Sidney Levesque / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 3, 2005
Move over, Starbucks. A couple of new coffee shops are in town, and they're offering books with their biscotti.
The Abilene and Cooper high school libraries have coffee bars and hip new interiors this school year. The Barnes & Noble bookstore atmosphere is pulling students in.
''It's been going like gangbusters,'' said Cooper librarian Teresa Price. ''I can't tell you how many more kids have been in the LRC (learning resource center) who have never come in except for their freshman orientation. It's been exciting.''
The coffee bars are a hit, especially in the morning. Even teachers stop in.
Cooper sophomore Ashley McNally buys a biscotti and French vanilla coffee each morning to keep her awake for band practice. ''I love going in there,'' she said.
The best-sellers are hot chocolate and muffins.
Students can choose from two kinds of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or apple cider for $1, a muffin for 50 cents or biscotti for 75 cents. AHS culinary students make some of the muffins.
''We sell out of those every morning,'' said Lucinda Farrar, an AHS library aide.
The library sells up to 160 drinks some days at Bistro Aquila (Eagle Cafe).
''We can't stay up with it,'' said AHS librarian Mary Margaret Smith, who joked that she needed to learn how to be a restaurant manager. The Cooper coffee bar, Internet Cafe, is just as busy.
Proceeds from the coffee bars will go toward more library improvements.
Students like the new ''teen friendly'' look of the libraries. More students are stopping in to do homework and read for fun.
''It's such a good environment,'' said AHS senior Jeannie Williams.
Books were rearranged to make popular reading materials more visible. Magazines are self- serve. Before, they were closed off and had to be requested.
Students can relax in overstuffed, bright chairs or in one of the armless, legless vinyl chairs that sit on the floor. Little ''living rooms'' were arranged using the chairs, coffee tables, lamps, art work, plants and colorful throw pillows.
Stainless steel trashcans are scattered around. Soft classical and jazz music is playing.
The librarians found furniture in storage and antique stores. Both libraries are installing orange booths from the kitchen at the district's administration building on North Mockingbird Lane, which is closing so administrators can move to another building downtown.
''We're recycling as much as we can,'' said Price, the Cooper librarian. Other items were purchased with money from the student activity fund.
The library makeover has gone so well, Smith may open the AHS library for coffee house study nights. Price is considering a poetry slam contest at Cooper.
Contact Sidney Levesque at levesques@reporternews.com or 676-6721.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_ed_elem_secondary/article/0,1874,ABIL_7951_4127852,00.html
<< Home