Ordinary Times Wants You!

Burt Likko

Pseudonymous Portlander. Pursuer of happiness. Bon vivant. Homebrewer. Atheist. Recovering Republican. Recovering Catholic. Recovering divorcé. Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Ordinary Times. Relapsed Lawyer, admitted to practice law (under his real name) in California and Oregon. There's a Twitter account at @burtlikko, but not used for posting on the general feed anymore. House Likko's Words: Scite Verum. Colite Iusticia. Vivere Con Gaudium.

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39 Responses

  1. Roger Fergsuon says:

    I like what you just wrote – really. Made me feel at home (I am one of the 15 others).

    See? It worked!Report

  2. Plinko says:

    I just wanted to say that even if I’ve gone over to the 14 of 15 quiet readers, I still find a lot of interesting things to read here at OT.
    I retweet (to all 30 followers!) and share occasionally, but I should do a lot more of it.Report

  3. Joe Sal says:

    While we’re on the subject of recruiting, I kinda want to know if we currently have a writer or could have a volunteer with a political compass score of about:

    -6.0 Economic
    -7.0 Social Libertarian/AuthoritarianReport

  4. Roland Dodds says:

    I like the call to arms! Let’s build on what came before us to make an even better, more engaging community. My influence is small, but I definitely share wherever I can.Report

  5. Francis says:

    “Discovering that someone who is obviously smart and looks at the same thing as you do but reaches a different conclusion is uncomfortable.”

    Nah, they just haven’t taken the time to really understand my argument. 😉Report

  6. aaron david says:

    Well put Burt, and quite timely. I share what I have written with friends and family, but will make sure to pass along what others are putting up withe the same 4 people.Report

  7. Christopher Carr says:

    “Echo chambers like that are the opposite of what this site is all about. We’re about polyphony, not echoes.”

    Hear, hear!

    Now onto the advancement of voting rights for dogs.

    Jokes aside, I think another thing the League has going for it is our alumni network. We really are the Yardbirds of the Internet age.Report

  8. Kazzy says:

    So, if I may… I’m going to push back against some of what you’ve written hear, Fearless Counselor Overlord Burt Esq.

    As I began reading this piece and got to your initial discussion of our size, I immediately thought, “I think we have a good size. Large enough to be lively but small enough to be intimate, to feel known, and to allow for dialogue. I’m not particularly active online… it’s pretty much just OT for me. But there are some other sites I frequent. One has a very small commentariat and while the content is solid, the discussions are pretty much non-existent. Others are quite larger and there never seems to be much dialogue there either; a site like Popehat springs to mind.

    Now, maybe I’m mistaking correlation for causation. Those sites have other differences as well, many of them technological. I think OT’s site is designed somewhat uniquely in that the comments seem very intentionally setup to foster discussion (hat tip to CK there). I’ve only see one site with an even better setup and which leveraged a seemingly larger reader base into similarly lively conversation… and that was a rather niche site (Football Outsiders). So… maybe that disproves my thesis. Maybe our site can grow, gain readers and authors and perspectives, and sacrifice nothing.

    But I’m skeptical.

    This isn’t to say that I don’t want the excellent writers here (amongst whom I do not count myself) to have larger audiences. And I certainly don’t want them going elsewhere to find those eyeballs (I rue all the writers we’ve lost over the years).

    I guess what I am saying is that I hope we grow purposefully, cautiously, and with an eye towards maintaining what makes this site so special. I’m confident in the great minds behind and in front of the scenes to do so.

    tl;dr: Please don’t turn this into YouTube. Or ESPN.Report

  9. Brian Murphy says:

    Is there anyone more insufferable than a “special snowflake” that’s just too precious for partisanship? Politics is a matter of life or death, and BSDIism is complicity in murder.Report

    • Glyph in reply to Brian Murphy says:

      Baby-killers! Baby-killers, everywhere!

      …oh, wait. I think I thought of someone more insufferable.Report

      • Brian Murphy in reply to Glyph says:

        So you don’t bear moral responsibility for your political choices? I guess having a conscience is “square.”Report

        • Will H. in reply to Brian Murphy says:

          The Pareto curve demonstrates value left on the table through inefficient distributive strategies employed in objectively integrative contexts.

          Forsaking an interest for the purpose of maintaining a position is one of the most common errors of persons untrained in negotiations (two main schools of thought, etc.).
          It is also one of the more widespread.

          A negotiator with only a little bit of skill could easily engineer a situation to harness that effect.
          The reason I don’t do so now is this:
          I don’t care to.
          I am interested only in calling out the error, and doing so accurately with a view toward portability of the concept.

          To be clear:
          Partisanship is a thing I love, perhaps above all else.
          But to choose a political party as the grounds on which that partisanship rests is distinctly imprudent.Report

    • I plead guilty.

      Me and David Broder.

      We’re the real problem.Report

    • pillsy in reply to Brian Murphy says:

      Different online spaces serve different purposes. You don’t have to condemn or eschew explicitly partisan fora to find value in non-partisan ones.Report

  10. Blomster says:

    I’m one of the 15. This is my second or perhaps third comment, and one of the others I deleted after posting. One does feel a bit like intruding on a conversation between close acquaintances 🙂

    I discovered OT via The Daily Dish – it’s been just over a year since Andrew has disappeared, I’m still in mourning. This site is the only place I can find that creates sortof the same intellectual environment. I enjoy the political posts, as politics are never just about politics but also about morality, and society, and economics, and all kinds of other interesting subjects. But as a non-American I especially appreciate the non-political posts.

    I even discovered a post about Afrikaners – and even one that didn’t say anything bad about us!Report

    • Burt Likko in reply to Blomster says:

      @blomster you are absolutely welcome to jump in anytime, anywhere. I’ve a dear friend in real life from RSA and through her, availed myself, second-hand, of her insights into the pleasures and ambiguities of that remarkable nation.

      A great ambition of mine is to visit — to see the animals, of course, but also to sample the wines and mingle with the locals, who seem to be mostly too busy building a future these days to spend a lot of time dwelling upon the past. Reminds me a lot of California, except with less Spanish being spoken in favor of a Babel of other cultures and languages thrown into the stew.Report

  11. Blomster says:

    If you were ever to plan a visit to South Africa, I’d be more than happy to help out where I can. Even if it’s only a lift from the airport or some travel info, tips and contacts. Exchange rate is in your favour!

    Is your friend from Cape Town? Cape Town does remind of San Francisco, which is the only bit of California I’ve seen. I’m from Pretoria and well, hm, it’s… not Cape Town, sadly. But it is the access city to many nice game reserves, so may the invitation entice you to go from ambition to action 🙂Report