I struggle with the question of how much time to put into any given piece of writing I come across on the Web. Blogging has helped me to focus my mind. I've managed to accumulate huge lists of interesting references; over time though, these lists become more of a burden than a blessing, something I sometimes feel compelled to organize rather than to just throw away.

Now, before I throw a book or article on my "interesting list", I try to force myself to annotate the item by squeezing out an answer to questions like "Why do I care about this piece? What do I expect to get out of this? What do I hope to accomplish by keeping it on my list?" At the very least, the connections and context I'm forcing myself to build around the item will make it easier to tie the article in with everything else that I care about.

So last night, as I did a google news search on Bach in one of many moments of distraction, I came across the piece to which I referred on my blog. I skimmed the piece and reflected quickly on what I cared about. My little speed-writing exercise produced a little blurb that I found sufficiently satisfying to share on my blog.

When I read Lloyd's reaction to the article this morning, I was 1) glad that I had made the effort to share the reference because 2) Lloyd, in actually reading the piece more closely than I, found something that I just totally missed -- a priceless line about "slump in amateur singing throughout the world with the glorious exception of the Philippines and some Hispanic countries..." If those words had actually registered on my mind, I would surely have commented on them. So thanks, Lloyd, for bringing them to our attention and enriching our collective understanding and enjoyment of our reading.