Lay Off the Sloth

Everyone has taken their turn as "end-of-the-semester" pathologist; we now have an impressive catalog of symptoms affixed to the scholastic home stretch, from laziness and truancy to writer's block. If it's a seasonal influx of Caribbean bradypus variegatus dander that hexes us in the later days of March and November, I must admit I am not immune. But a newly noted symptom known as "unenthused-ness" has caught my attention, and thanks to Rachel's recent findings in the lab, it may confound our understanding of end-of-the-semesteritus.

Unenthused-ness is marked by apparent deficiencies of the following: excitement, constructive feedback generation, and opinionated criticism. It manifests itself as the sort of general malaise you'd expect from college students itching for summer. Although perfectly congruous to previous symptomatology, unenthused-ness may have ambiguous origins. It may point to another cause.

In a class that has progressed from explaining "what a blog is" to creating, troubleshooting, improving, and maintaining one, a drastic change is to be expected between first and second-round workshops. Six weeks ago, most of us were still fumbling with the Blogger interface. Six weeks ago, we were typing without checks or feedback (aside from the occasional and magnanimous comment thread). Needless to say, there was plenty to criticize.

First-round workshops hit some people in the face like a brick. For others, they helped with the gestation process. What we have seen already, and can expect to see in upcoming workshops, are the results of our advice and criticism. At this point in the semester, there should be less to say. I don't mean our workshops should be without fervor, but I expect to see more well-established blogs that defy criticism.

Unenthused-ness is a symptom of bloggerly improvement. So let's just wait a minute before we blame less-than-scathing workshops on old Three-toes as well. He has enough problems as it is.