Why "The Wolery"?

In the Winnie-The-Pooh books, Owl is the character all the others regard as wise. He lives in the grandest house in the Hundred Acre Wood, and has impressed them all with things like his ability to spell his very own name: Wol. As Pooh puts it, "If anyone knows anything about anything, it's Owl who knows something about something". In The House at Pooh Corner, his home, impressively called The Chestnuts blows over in a storm, and all you really need to know about Owl is that while others go off to find him a new place to live, he sets about thinking up a good name for it. He comes up with "The Wolery".

Owl is the embodiment of what we now would call a pundit. He has the reputation of wisdom because it appears he can do some of the things wise people are thought to do (i.e. write), and he always talks about the things he thinks he knows with great authority. If the Hundred Acre Wood had a 24-hour news channel, he would have his own show, a little out of prime-time maybe, but it would be long-running and serious.

So why call a blog The Wolery? Notwithstanding the fact I just plain like the name (and Winnie the Pooh) I have to admit to having a little bit of the Owl in me (and a fair bit of Eeyore too, if you really want to know). I tend to like my big words, serious, rambling conversations, and those lovely big ideas that aren't really so big. I think a bit too well of my own thoughts and ideas (which are almost always, in the end, someone else's thoughts or ideas). This blog is partly here for me to get some ideas out into the world, and partly to help me find my voice as a writer. My fear is that I might tend toward some of the worst aspects of punditry (over-certainty, reductionism, arrogance). So my blog's title is meant to remind me of those not-so-endearing tendencies, and hopefully will help me rein them in, keep me honest, and humble in the face of a complex & chaotic reality. I hope my audience, if I ever find one, will also aid in that quest.

PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD