My blog today is about Michael M. Taylor, a man I don't know. His name was provided to me by Project 2996.

Founded two years ago, Project 2996 pays tribute to the victims of 9/11 by asking bloggers to blog about a victim and then post the written tribute on September 11.  A blogger can choose a specific person or, as in my case, write about a person that the website selects.

Michael ("Mouse") Taylor was 42 years old when the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, his workplace.   He grew up in Pennsylvania, was a graduate of Duke University and UCLA, and was working as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald when his life was tragically cut short.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents, a brother, two sisters, and a fiancee. 

There is one story about him that I particularly like.  In the 90's, he bought a Porsche Carrera.  The car was a stickshift, but he didn't drive stick.   So, he got his buddy, a professional NASCAR driver, to teach him how to drive stick in exchange for golf lessons.    Why do I like that story?  First, it shows that Mr. Taylor had great taste in cars.  (The Porsche Carrera just happens to be my dream car.)  Second, he had the good sense to know that the only way to drive a Porsche is by stickshift. 

I wish that I had more time to write this tribute.  As it happens, I only found out about Project 2996 at around 5:30 p.m. on September 10 and am writing this at 11:10 p.m. so that I can post it on September 11.

The bits and pieces I've related to you about Mr. Taylor were gleaned from other sources.  In addition to the nytimes.com article linked to above, here are the other sources I found:

Duke Magazine 

Elsie's Yoga Class  (Seriously -- Elsie blogged about Mr. Taylor as part of the 2006 Project 2996)

There is a poem by Pearl Cleage called We Speak Your Names.  It was recited as part of Oprah's Legends Ball.  Although the poem was recited in order to pay tribute to African-American women pioneers, the power of the poem was in their names -- after every verse, the names of several women were pronounced slowly and solemnly.   In a single name, there was weight, substance -- reverence.

So today, on September 11, 2008 -- MICHAEL M. TAYLOR -- I speak your name.

*****

To see a list of the 2008 bloggers and the people they have chosen to honor and to learn more about Project 2996, click here.

H/T to Cindy Kilkenny at Fairly Conservative for the info on Project 2996.

Hello, I'm back!  And now that I'm back, unfortunately, I've got nothin'... and it is all The Spouse's fault. 

I've been writing this blog for two years, and in all that time, The Spouse has never asked that I refrain from writing about a particular topic.  Until two days ago.

So, a "situation" has presented itself that for me falls under the  "I don't want to do this but I'll suck it up and do it anyway" category of marital duties.  Then, I was struck by inspiration and thought, hey, this would make a darn funny blog.  I mentioned it to The Spouse.  This is how the conversation went.

Me: You know, this topic would make a really funny blog.  I could write about...

The Spouse:  I'd rather you didn't.

(So, then my hackles are up because (a) I'm basically going to be forced to do something that I don't want to do and (b) now I can't even write about it on my own gosh darn blog.)

Me:  (incredulous) Are you actually forbidding me to write about it?

The Spouse:  I'm not forbidding you to do anything.  I'm just saying that I'd rather you didn't.

 
Now the thing about writing out this conversation is that I cannot convey to you the way in which The Spouse made the above statement.  He used THE TONE.  So, although he technically did not forbid me to blog about it, the use of THE TONE was meant to indicate that a whole lot of bad would rain down on my head if I so much as typed two words about it. 

And of course my first inclination was to do it anyway with thoughts of "well, you're not the boss of me" running through my head.  But I didn't.

It did, however, get me thinking about how far I would be willing to go in writing a blog.

When I first started blogging two years ago, I only had vague notions of what a blog was.  What was supposed to be a blog about Brookfield has become less about the city itself and more about my life in the city and its surrounds.  And that is where the problem lies because my life is not just about me -- it's about my husband, my children, and my friends.

When I first started, I didn't fully grasp the reach and permanency of putting something into cyberspace.  Nor did I realize the phenomenon of "anonymous intimacy" that takes place between bloggers and their readers -- a relationship that can generate sympathetic comments as well as venomous ones.  

It comes down to a question of exposure.  How much information is too much? 

I've engaged in a little self-censorship.  I purposely don't identify my spouse, kids, and friends by their full name, and I still hesitate to post pictures of my family on the blog, although I kind of go back and forth about that.  

Wondering if there was such a thing as a "code of ethics" for bloggers, I googled just that, and sure enough, here's a sample of what I found.

I've also read material from other bloggers who've struggled with the same issues. Take for example this local blogger: Fish Out of Water.

So, I've come up with my own code: 

Thou shalt thinketh before thou blogeth.  And then thou shalt thinketh again.

I think that should cover about anything.
 

So, the powers that be (TPTB) decided to institute a commenting feature on the blogs awhile back.  So, now, it's getting a little out of hand.  So, now TPTB have decided that there are going to be rules about comments.  I got an email about The Rules this evening.

The Rules will soon be posted on all blogs.  If readers' comments do not follow The Rules, I am not supposed to publish them.  If something gets by me or TPTB disagree with my decision to publish a comment(s), they will pull the comment(s) themselves.  That is also part of The Rules.

When we started with the whole comments thing, I reviewed all of them before they posted to the blog.  But because I don't generally write "inflammatory/controversial" material, I decided to let comments publish automatically. This worked well until just recently.

So, now we have The Rules.  So, now I have to review everything again.  If I don't, I'll get in trouble.

I'd tell you what The Rules are, but my head hurts right now.  I think it's all these rules... or maybe the sushi I had for dinner.

(The Rules are going to be the same guidelines that the JSOnline bloggers use.  Click here to view them.)