I'm flattered that one of my favourite bloggers has listed me in her blogroll under the heading of 'Blogs about ideas'. As I said, I'm a flattered and more than a little embarrassed by the chasm between the quality of The Conversation Agent blog and mine. It is beautifully written by Valeria Maltoni whom, I gather, is a PR professional from the United States.
What I like about her posts:
They are always interesting. I find myself engaged with topics that I would not especially be interested in normally.
She writes with humanity. I'm not a big fan of dispassionate objectivity. Often it is a front for dogma. If you've read more than a handful of my own witterings you'll know I am advocate for the Emersonian idea that 'a foolish consistency is the hob-goblin of little minds'. But don't get me wrong - Ms Maltoni isn't inconsistent, on the contrary she is consistently excellent - and never piously 'objective'.
In short she's a wonderful conversationalist. Brava!
(As a footnote I'm reminded of a story about Gladstone and Disraeli. Apparently if you went to Gladstone's home for dinner you would leave, certain that Mr Gladstone was the smartest person and the finest orator you had, or ever would, meet. As you pulled on your coat and prepared to step out into the snow to hail a cab after sharing a meal with Mr Disraeli you would be sure of one thing - if nothing else - that you were the most scintillating company ever to have graced his table.
I like that.)
What I like about her posts:
They are always interesting. I find myself engaged with topics that I would not especially be interested in normally.
She writes with humanity. I'm not a big fan of dispassionate objectivity. Often it is a front for dogma. If you've read more than a handful of my own witterings you'll know I am advocate for the Emersonian idea that 'a foolish consistency is the hob-goblin of little minds'. But don't get me wrong - Ms Maltoni isn't inconsistent, on the contrary she is consistently excellent - and never piously 'objective'.
In short she's a wonderful conversationalist. Brava!
(As a footnote I'm reminded of a story about Gladstone and Disraeli. Apparently if you went to Gladstone's home for dinner you would leave, certain that Mr Gladstone was the smartest person and the finest orator you had, or ever would, meet. As you pulled on your coat and prepared to step out into the snow to hail a cab after sharing a meal with Mr Disraeli you would be sure of one thing - if nothing else - that you were the most scintillating company ever to have graced his table.
I like that.)
You're very welcome, David. The other day I actually spent a good deal of time on the Idealog site reading articles and blog posts there and finding inspiration. That's part of what I define conversation -- listening, reading, observing what others work on, what they think, etc.
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