hard copy

In cessations, part 2 I talked about the possibility of publishing POSToccupations 2010 as a hard-copy book.

When I discussed the issue of publication with Steve, I almost talked myself out of it. "Why," I asked as my initial burst of enthusiasm wound down, "would anyone want to own a book that merely duplicates stuff that's available for free on line?" Another basic question is that of length/completeness. Are 70 essays enough? Is the August lapse a serious drawback?

I also feared that my work would lose something without the links sprinkled through it, but then I thought about the transiency of links. My techie friend Bill, who was present when the Internet was born, once described the posting process as "writing something on the wall and hoping the right person comes along and reads it." We can also hope that nobody comes along and wipes it off. For example, recipezaar is one of my labels, but recipezaar.com has evolved into the more mundanely named food.com, and I don't suppose the two URL's will be interchangeable forever. Also the linked material will change over time -- whether undergoing regular updates or simply being deleted by its creator. (Yes! Google Blogger has the option of deleting an entire blog.) If it seems necessary I'll transform my most essential links into footnotes.

At last, I have began to consider ways of adding value to my on-line text, and so now am in the pleasant throes of making an index, This started with the list of labels that appears in the upper left-hand corner of POSToccupations. I'm inserting titles of individual postings and names of identifiable persons mentioned. This means, for instance, that a reader will be able to look up toola (the title) as well as cat (the subject) and T.S. Eliot (the poet who wrote about cat names).

In addition to an index, I'll add an introduction and maybe even an appendix of my poems -- just the ones that are mentioned in the blog.

For years, friends and colleagues have been asking me when I was going to publish. One even wrote on a Christmas card: "We'd stand in line to buy your book."

This is going to be fun.