I receive Attention

If you don't understand the next paragraph, don't let it worry you—neither do I. Seriously. In it, I try to make use of some arcane jargon which, to be honest, I don't really understand. But the worrying thing is that I think it is slowly starting to make sense to me. It won't make sense to you, though. Not unless you listen to the same podcasts as I do. So, if I were you, I'd skip the next paragraph altogether and pick up the story one paragraph later. It will make a lot more sense that way, and won't detract from the story.

Two of my Gestures brought some unexpected Attention home to roost this week. Suddenly, I understand what Steve Gillmor (vanity feed still working, Steve?) has been going on about all this time. I think.

On Saturday, I received a leaflet through the post advertising a writing course in North Wales. One of the tutors on the course is author Redmond O'Hanlon, whose book Trawler I had written about on Gruts. The person who sent me the leaflet had evidently trawled (no pun intended) the web for people with websites (i.e. writers) with an interest in Redmond O'Hanlon. They had then picked up my contact details from my Charles Darwin website and sent me the leaflet. I am not at all interested in the writing course, but I was impressed to have been singled out for special attention in this way, and didn't (as I normally would) resent being sent this unsolicited advertisement, as it was at least relevant to my interests.

Then, yesterday, I received a free book through the post: The Evolutionists: American Thinkers Confront Charles Darwin, 1860—1920 by J David Hoeveler. It had been sent by the publisher. The person who sent it had worked out that I am in the habit of reviewing books about Charles Darwin etc. and decided to send me a copy. Over the years, I have been sent about 10 Darwin-related books by publishers. In many cases they were books I would have bought anyway. In this particular case, I probably wouldn't, but it is now on my reading list and will receive a review at some point. The book was addressed to the Review Editor at The Friends of Charles Darwin. Nice touch, that. I quite fancy myself as a Review Editor.

The message of this story: why not get yourself a website and start writing about stuff that interests you? You might end up getting some Attention.

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

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