Writing and Blogging


Restoring Civility To Public Discourse

Posted by Chris Berry on November 17, 2008 in Elections and Voting, Writing and Blogging

Now that the election season is finally over, I would like to think that we might restore some semblance of civility to our discourse. Elections tend to bring out the worst in us, turning otherwise reasonable people into strident partisans and rabid attack dogs. Language and behavior that we would never tolerate under ordinary circumstances [...]

Feeling Guilty Again

Posted by Chris Berry on September 2, 2008 in Writing and Blogging

I’ve been suffering pangs of guilt again lately for not posting as regularly as I should. This is in spite of the fact that I have spent a great deal of time in the last few days on site upgrades. Check out the new header images if you haven’t noticed noticed. I probably spent 15 [...]

Revisiting A Few Golden Oldies

Posted by Chris Berry on August 19, 2008 in Writing and Blogging

I spent a couple of hours on blog housekeeping yesterday and had a chance to go back and read several of my older posts. One of the biggest problems with the reverse chronological arrangement of the typical blog is that a lot of good stuff tends to get buried in the archives. Granted, the majority [...]

It’s Nice to Know You’re Interested

Posted by Chris Berry on August 12, 2008 in Writing and Blogging

When I started this blog back in March, a Google search for Chris Berry produced over 400,000 results, but to find one that actually referred to me I had to scroll through 21 pages of references to other guys named Chris Berry. It’s a much more common name than I ever imagined. Today the same [...]

Becoming Obsessed With WordPress

Posted by Chris Berry on July 28, 2008 in Writing and Blogging

I originally started blogging a few months back because it seemed like a great way to vent, and a great opportunity to fully develop a number of ideas that had been bouncing around in my head keeping me awake at night. I do enjoy the writing aspect of it, but lately I’ve become obsessed with [...]

Blogger’s Guilt

Posted by Chris Berry on July 24, 2008 in Purely Personal, Writing and Blogging

Even though I started this blog purely as a means of self-expression, I’ve begun to feel guilty whenever I go for more than a couple of days without posting. It’s not as if I’m getting paid for doing this, or anyone out there is just dying to know what I’ll have to say next. I [...]

A Study Of Letters To The Roanoke Times

Posted by Chris Berry on July 16, 2008 in Roanoke Valley, Writing and Blogging

Before moving back to Roanoke in late 2002, I had spent the previous 20 years living in a number of major metropolitan areas, including Richmond, Charlotte, Washington, DC and even Buffalo, NY. I lived for 10 years in the DC area, and while I enjoyed the time I spent there, there are only a few [...]

Now I Know Why People Hate Microsoft

Posted by Chris Berry on June 30, 2008 in Purely Personal, Writing and Blogging

I’ve always defended Bill Gates whenever anyone criticized Microsoft for it’s virtual monopoly in PC operating systems and desktop applications. I remember the days before MS-DOS and Microsoft Office, and the total lack of standards made it virtually impossible to share documents with anyone who wasn’t on the same system. One of the major reasons [...]

Thoughts On The Writing Process, And Beer

Posted by Chris Berry on May 16, 2008 in Writing and Blogging

I’ve been paid paltry sums for a few of my articles over the years, but I’ve never made my living as a writer. With that being said, my ability to write has been a major contributing factor to just about everything I’ve ever done successfully. I’ve received a few compliments, and I have a general [...]