Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89
By DOUGLAS MARTIN

The Rev. Robert W. Shields, a preacher and teacher who for a
quarter-century spent four hours a day recording his life in
five-minute segments — from changing light bulbs to pondering God to
visiting the bathroom — and ended up with a 37.5-million-word diary,
perhaps the most verbose one ever, died on Oct. 15 at his home in
Dayton, Wash.

The cause of death was a heart attack, his daughter Klara Hicks said.

Mr. Shields was 89, and little more than a decade had passed since his
second stroke ended his ability to type. He said in an interview with
National Public Radio in 1994 that stopping the diary would be like
"turning off my life" — so perhaps his spiritual death was in June 1997.

He knocked out three million words in his best years, a million in
slow ones. Guinness World Records does not address diary word lengths,
but said the longest diary — measured in duration — was done over 91
years by Col. Ernest Loftus of Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mr. Shields's 37.5 million words apparently exceeded the more than 21
million in the colorful diary of Edward Robb Ellis, a newspaperman who
died in 1998, and the 17 million words of Arthur Crew Inman, a
reclusive poet who died in 1963. The 17th-century London diary of
Samuel Pepys was a mere 1.25 million words.

Mr. Shields's diary may not be read — nor subjected to a word count —
for 50 years by the terms under which he gave it to Washington State
University in 1999. And as blogs threaten to revolutionize the very
concept of a diary, who knows if someone somewhere has somehow written
an even more prolix, but still-secret diary?

What seems certain is that Mr. Shields believed that nothing truly
happened to him unless he wrote it down.

He regularly recorded his body temperature and blood pressure;
critiqued newspapers; and described all the junk mail he got and the
cost of almost everything he bought. He had three dozen ways, none
obscene, to describe his urinations, all recorded. He slept in
two-hour stretches in order to record his dreams.

An impish, balding man, he mimicked the inventor Buckminster Fuller,
who documented his life in what he called a chronofile by pasting
letters, bills and all manner of pieces of paper in a huge scrapbook
for 68 years. Among other things, Mr. Shields taped nasal hair into
his diary for DNA study by future scientists.

He said he did not know why he started keeping a diary in 1972. He
just knew he could not stop.

"You might say I'm a nut," he said in an interview with The Sunday
Oregonian in 1996. "We are driven by compulsions we don't know."

Mr. Shields hoped historians would find his minutia meaningful.

"Maybe by looking into someone's life at that depth, every minute of
every day, they'll find out something about all people," he said in an
interview with The Seattle Times in 1994. "I don't know. No way to tell."

Robert William Shields was born in Seymour, Ind., on May 17, 1918. His
father was a speed-typing champion who could type the Gettysburg
Address over and over at 222 words a minute. He began a diary at 17,
mainly to chart a romance, but lost interest.

He graduated from Franklin College in Indiana and attended several
divinity schools before being ordained as a Protestant minister. He
served congregations in Indiana, New Hampshire and Iowa before he
tired of church politics. He moved to South Dakota and became a
high-school English teacher.

He paid bills by teaching, working for a high-school yearbook company
and doctoring books for vanity presses. Less lucratively, he wrote an
unpublished history of a train-robbing gang, and 1,200 poems, of which
he said five, maybe six, were good.

In Dayton, Mr. Shields did not minister to a church, but presided over
weddings and funerals. He not only did not charge newlyweds, but also
gave them a cash gift.

To do his diary, Mr. Shields, usually in his underwear, retreated to
his back-porch office. He sunk into a tattered secretary's chair
cushioned by a foam doughnut. He was surrounded by six I.B.M. electric
typewriters, arranged in a horseshoe. He migrated from machine to
machine. The compete works of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel
Swedenborg and lots of typewriter ribbons surrounded him.

In addition to 91 boxes crammed with 25 years of his life, Mr. Shields
is survived by his wife, the former Grace Augusta Hotson; his
daughters Klara Hicks, of Seattle, and Cornelia and Heidi Shields,
both of Dayton; his brother, Monty, of Seymour, and four grandchildren.

After he became disabled in 1997, Mr. Shields dictated diary entries
to his wife until she — quickly — tired of the exercise. Three years
earlier, when an interviewer had asked her about her husband's
fixation on posterity, she replied, "Good old posterity."

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/us/29shields.html?ref=obituaries

Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
Weblog Awards.

Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.

rr

Oooo, glad you passed the word, rr.    Pepys Diary is way behind!

Here's that link unbroken by yahoo groups message software:

http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php


Terry


At 09:55 PM 11/2/2007 +0000, you wrote:
>Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
>been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
>Weblog Awards.
>
>Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
>literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
>every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.
>
>rr
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

I'm putting together my social calendar today.Could you please click on the link
below and complete your data for me?
http://melisabsocial.googlepages.com/social.htm

Thanks for your help!

MELISA ANN

But it's gaining on the others! C'mon everyone, let's do our part gain Phil at
least some of the
accolade he deserves...

--- Terry Foreman <terry.foreman@...> wrote:

> Oooo, glad you passed the word, rr.    Pepys Diary is way behind!
>
> Here's that link unbroken by yahoo groups message software:
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
>
> Terry
>
>
> At 09:55 PM 11/2/2007 +0000, you wrote:
> >Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
> >been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
> >Weblog Awards.
> >
> >Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
> >literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
> >every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.
> >
> >rr
> >
> >
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

Votes can be made once per computer per 24 hours so if each of us
enlists ten friends by sending a "broadcast" e-mail with a direct link ...

--- In pepysdiary@yahoogroups.com, Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@...> wrote:
>
> But it's gaining on the others! C'mon everyone, let's do our part
gain Phil at least some of the
> accolade he deserves...
>
> --- Terry Foreman <terry.foreman@...> wrote:
>
> > Oooo, glad you passed the word, rr.    Pepys Diary is way behind!
> >
> > Here's that link unbroken by yahoo groups message software:
> >
> > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
> >
> >
> > Terry
> >
> >
> > At 09:55 PM 11/2/2007 +0000, you wrote:
> > >Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
> > >been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
> > >Weblog Awards.
> > >
> > >Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
> > >literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
> > >every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.
> > >
> > >rr
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>

Good going folks - we were only on 3% or something 24 hours ago, and
now on 8.7%! Keep it up :)


At 17:09 +0000 2007-11-03, Michael Robinson wrote:
>Votes can be made once per computer per 24 hours so if each of us
>enlists ten friends by sending a "broadcast" e-mail with a direct link ...
>
>--- In pepysdiary@yahoogroups.com, Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@...> wrote:
>>
>>  But it's gaining on the others! C'mon everyone, let's do our part
>gain Phil at least some of the
>>  accolade he deserves...
>>
>>  --- Terry Foreman <terry.foreman@...> wrote:
>>
>>  > Oooo, glad you passed the word, rr.    Pepys Diary is way behind!
>>  >
>>  > Here's that link unbroken by yahoo groups message software:
>>  >
>>  > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Terry
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > At 09:55 PM 11/2/2007 +0000, you wrote:
>>  > >Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
>>  > >been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
>>  > >Weblog Awards.
>>  > >
>>  > >Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
>>  > >literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
>>  > >every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.
>>  > >
>>  > >rr
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >Yahoo! Groups Links
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

--
Phil Gyford
http://www.gyford.com/

In double digits now! Go, Pepysians, go!!

--- Phil Gyford <lists@...> wrote:

> Good going folks - we were only on 3% or something 24 hours ago, and
> now on 8.7%! Keep it up :)
>
>
> At 17:09 +0000 2007-11-03, Michael Robinson wrote:
> >Votes can be made once per computer per 24 hours so if each of us
> >enlists ten friends by sending a "broadcast" e-mail with a direct link ...
> >
> >--- In pepysdiary@yahoogroups.com, Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@...> wrote:
> >>
> >>  But it's gaining on the others! C'mon everyone, let's do our part
> >gain Phil at least some of the
> >>  accolade he deserves...
> >>
> >>  --- Terry Foreman <terry.foreman@...> wrote:
> >>
> >>  > Oooo, glad you passed the word, rr.    Pepys Diary is way behind!
> >>  >
> >>  > Here's that link unbroken by yahoo groups message software:
> >>  >
> >>  > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
> >>  >
> >>  >
> >>  > Terry
> >>  >
> >>  >
> >>  > At 09:55 PM 11/2/2007 +0000, you wrote:
> >>  > >Not sure if this has been publicised already, but Pepys' Diary has
> >>  > >been nominated in the Best Literature Blog category for the 2007
> >>  > >Weblog Awards.
> >>  > >
> >>  > >Voting can be done here: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-
> >>  > >literature-blog-1.php and a vote can be cast from the same computer
> >>  > >every 24 hours! Polls close on 8 November.
> >>  > >
> >>  > >rr
> >>  > >
> >>  > >
> >>  > >
> >>  > >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>  > >
> >>  > >
> >>  > >
> >>  >
> >>  >
> >>  >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Phil Gyford
> http://www.gyford.com/
>
>

http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/11/04/8018.php

I've now added the ability for some pages in the Encyclopedia to
automatically pull in relevant content from Wikipedia.

What does this mean in practice? It means that several pages will
featurea an extra tab containing text and images from a page at
Wikipedia. For example, the Royal Exchange page
<http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/189.php#wikipedia> has content from this
Wikipedia page
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exchange_%28London%29> and George
Monck <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/111.php> has been fleshed out
thanks to this page
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monck%2C_1st_Duke_of_Albemarle>.
Some of the Wikipedia images will also appear in the right-hand
column whichever tab you view on an Encyclopedia page.

Hopefully this helps expand the information we have in the
Encyclopedia, and the inclusion of these pictures will bring things
to life a bit more, with very little work on my or your parts.
Occasionally the images might be slightly irrelevant - for example,
photos of the Royal Exchange building that replaced the one from
Pepys' time - but hopefully that won't cause too much confusion.

This isn't intended to replace any efforts by the volunteer editors
(and you can still volunteer
<http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/01/02/7146.php>). The
Wikipedia text will provide a good general background on a topic, but
editors can write something that's more directly relevant to the
world of Pepys. See, for example, Jeannine Kerwin's piece on Sir
Edward Mountagu <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/112.php>.

I've only added the Wikipedia text for a few topics at the moment,
and will work my way through everything else gradually. It will
mostly be people who were prominent enough to deserve Wikipedia
pages, and places that are well known enough. The are some topics
with Wikipedia pages that it might not be worth including. For
example, I'm not sure there's much to be gained from using content
from the Wikipedia page on wine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine>
on our own wine page <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/309.php> as it's of
such a general nature. But I'd be happy to hear your opinion.

Anyway, I hope this adds to the usefulness of the Encyclopedia and
makes the diary even more interesting!



--
Phil Gyford
http://www.gyford.com/

Wonderful, Phil! Many thanks!
A.S.


Phil Gyford wrote:
>
> http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/11/04/8018.php
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/11/04/8018.php>
>
> I've now added the ability for some pages in the Encyclopedia to
> automatically pull in relevant content from Wikipedia.
>
> What does this mean in practice? It means that several pages will
> featurea an extra tab containing text and images from a page at
> Wikipedia. For example, the Royal Exchange page
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/189.php#wikipedia
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/189.php#wikipedia>> has content from this
> Wikipedia page
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exchange_%28London%29
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exchange_%28London%29>> and George
> Monck <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/111.php
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/111.php>> has been fleshed out
> thanks to this page
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monck%2C_1st_Duke_of_Albemarle
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monck%2C_1st_Duke_of_Albemarle>>.
> Some of the Wikipedia images will also appear in the right-hand
> column whichever tab you view on an Encyclopedia page.
>
> Hopefully this helps expand the information we have in the
> Encyclopedia, and the inclusion of these pictures will bring things
> to life a bit more, with very little work on my or your parts.
> Occasionally the images might be slightly irrelevant - for example,
> photos of the Royal Exchange building that replaced the one from
> Pepys' time - but hopefully that won't cause too much confusion.
>
> This isn't intended to replace any efforts by the volunteer editors
> (and you can still volunteer
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/01/02/7146.php
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2007/01/02/7146.php>>). The
> Wikipedia text will provide a good general background on a topic, but
> editors can write something that's more directly relevant to the
> world of Pepys. See, for example, Jeannine Kerwin's piece on Sir
> Edward Mountagu <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/112.php
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/112.php>>.
>
> I've only added the Wikipedia text for a few topics at the moment,
> and will work my way through everything else gradually. It will
> mostly be people who were prominent enough to deserve Wikipedia
> pages, and places that are well known enough. The are some topics
> with Wikipedia pages that it might not be worth including. For
> example, I'm not sure there's much to be gained from using content
> from the Wikipedia page on wine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine>>
> on our own wine page <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/309.php
> <http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/309.php>> as it's of
> such a general nature. But I'd be happy to hear your opinion.
>
> Anyway, I hope this adds to the usefulness of the Encyclopedia and
> makes the diary even more interesting!
>
> --
> Phil Gyford
> http://www.gyford.com/ <http://www.gyford.com/>
>
>

Let's win the Weblog Awards -- Best Literature

For Phil and for Sam

It looks like it's all about mustering arms/fans now--Neil just took a
sprint ahead.  Pile on all you friends, family and collegues in the
name of Literature and Sam.  Re-email your list daily that they can
vote every 24-hours.  Add to your list.

  http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php

This is ours!

Heads up because this is important. Today (Tuesday) BBC London is
doing a 3-hour programme about Pepys. This is on the Robert Elms
radio show from 12 noon to 3 pm London time. It can be listened to
on the internet worldwide, but if the time is too early or late for
you then it can also be replayed any time in the next 7 days on
the "Listen Again" facility which you will find on the right-side of
the page in the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/radio/presenters/robert_elms/index.shtml

You'll need Real Player, which you can download from the above page.

The reason for this is that they are interviewing the author of "The
Plot Against Pepys" and have decided to make Pepys the theme for the
whole show in between playing music. I can't believe this will
sustain a whole show but maybe it will. However, if any of you want
to phone them during the show only, or email them during the show,
or even before it so they can think about what you want to say, then
the email address for the show is robert.elms@...  and the
phone number is (if you're in the UK): 020 7224 2000, or if you're
outside the UK: (44 20) 7224 2000.

Personally I'd love to hear the mellow tones of Language Hat
discussing 17th century linguistics or our Dutch contributors
talking about De Ruyter. And maybe we can get some of the show's
listeners to vote for this site in the "Best Literature Blog"
category (see top of page - polling closes 8 November).

PS Please DO click on Jeannine's link for the November 6 entry
because it's hilarious!

The address for the show should have @bbc.co.uk at the end of it,
i.e. "Robert.Elms@..."

We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back. Get viral,
everyone! Enlist
all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...

--- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...> wrote:

> Foggy good morning from Seattle!
>
> Daily vote time:
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
>
> On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...> wrote:
> >
> >    We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
> > three days to do it in.
> >
> > Jenny
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

127 points behind! Get voting!

Todd Bernhardt wrote:
>
> We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
> Get viral, everyone! Enlist
> all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
>
> --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
> <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
> >
> > Daily vote time:
> >
> > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
> <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
> >
> >
> > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
> <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
> > >
> > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
> > > three days to do it in.
> > >
> > > Jenny
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>

Well, 406, but that's closer than it was 12 hours ago :)


At 07:24 +1000 2007-11-07, Susan Thomas wrote:
>127 points behind! Get voting!
>
>Todd Bernhardt wrote:
>>
>>  We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
>>  Get viral, everyone! Enlist
>>  all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
>>
>>  --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
>>  <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>  > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
>>  >
>>  > Daily vote time:
>>  >
>>  > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>>  <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
>>  <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
>>  > >
>>  > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
>>  > > three days to do it in.
>>  > >
>>  > > Jenny
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  >
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

--
Phil Gyford
http://www.gyford.com/

Voting ends on Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 pm GMT, 5:00 pm EST, 2:00
pm PST, etc.

Pepys' Diary has been making steady gains on the frontrunner, but not
at a rate that will close the gap in time unless we really get the
vote out in the next 18 hours.

At this time, we are 320 votes behind.

Don't forget to vote!  And remind others to vote!  And find others to vote!

http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php

Pass the link around. Voting is easy.

On 11/6/07, Phil Gyford <lists@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Well, 406, but that's closer than it was 12 hours ago :)
>
>  At 07:24 +1000 2007-11-07, Susan Thomas wrote:
>  >127 points behind! Get voting!
>  >
>  >Todd Bernhardt wrote:
>  >>
>  >> We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
>  >> Get viral, everyone! Enlist
>  >> all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
>  >>
>  >> --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
>  >> <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>  >>
>  >> > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
>  >> >
>  >> > Daily vote time:
>  >> >
>  >> >
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>  >>
> <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
>  >> >
>  >> >
>  >> > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
>  >> <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
>  >> > >
>  >> > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
>  >> > > three days to do it in.
>  >> > >
>  >> > > Jenny
>  >> > >
>  >> > >
>  >> > >
>  >> > >
>  >> > >
>  >> > >
>  >> >
>  >>
>  >>
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >Yahoo! Groups Links
>  >
>  >
>  >
>
>  --
>  Phil Gyford
>  http://www.gyford.com/
>
>

We're less than 6 percentage points behind! Just a reminder, too, that you can
vote from multiple
computers ... I'm voting from both of mine at home, as well as one at work...

--- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...> wrote:

> Voting ends on Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 pm GMT, 5:00 pm EST, 2:00
> pm PST, etc.
>
> Pepys' Diary has been making steady gains on the frontrunner, but not
> at a rate that will close the gap in time unless we really get the
> vote out in the next 18 hours.
>
> At this time, we are 320 votes behind.
>
> Don't forget to vote!  And remind others to vote!  And find others to vote!
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
> Pass the link around. Voting is easy.
>
> On 11/6/07, Phil Gyford <lists@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Well, 406, but that's closer than it was 12 hours ago :)
> >
> >  At 07:24 +1000 2007-11-07, Susan Thomas wrote:
> >  >127 points behind! Get voting!
> >  >
> >  >Todd Bernhardt wrote:
> >  >>
> >  >> We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
> >  >> Get viral, everyone! Enlist
> >  >> all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
> >  >>
> >  >> --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
> >  >> <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
> >  >>
> >  >> > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
> >  >> >
> >  >> > Daily vote time:
> >  >> >
> >  >> >
> > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
> >  >>
> > <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
> >  >> >
> >  >> >
> >  >> > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
> >  >> <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
> >  >> > > three days to do it in.
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > > Jenny
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> >
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >
> >  --
> >  Phil Gyford
> >  http://www.gyford.com/
> >
> >
>

Hello New Zealand, Australia, Singapore:

We turn this hair-raiser over to you. The voting site was overloaded
and hard to bring up all day, but we did our best.  The gap dwindles,
but time runs out.  From waking this morning on the US west coast to
315, we have closed the gap to 217.

http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php

Click and vote for Phil and Sam!  Call in your chits and get your
friends to vote too.




On 11/7/07, Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> We're less than 6 percentage points behind! Just a reminder, too, that you
> can vote from multiple
>  computers ... I'm voting from both of mine at home, as well as one at
> work...
>
>  --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...> wrote:
>
>  > Voting ends on Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 pm GMT, 5:00 pm EST, 2:00
>  > pm PST, etc.
>  >
>  > Pepys' Diary has been making steady gains on the frontrunner, but not
>  > at a rate that will close the gap in time unless we really get the
>  > vote out in the next 18 hours.
>  >
>  > At this time, we are 320 votes behind.
>  >
>  > Don't forget to vote! And remind others to vote! And find others to vote!
>  >
>  >
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>  >
>  > Pass the link around. Voting is easy.
>  >
>  > On 11/6/07, Phil Gyford <lists@...> wrote:
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >
>  > > Well, 406, but that's closer than it was 12 hours ago :)
>  > >
>  > > At 07:24 +1000 2007-11-07, Susan Thomas wrote:
>  > > >127 points behind! Get voting!
>  > > >
>  > > >Todd Bernhardt wrote:
>  > > >>
>  > > >> We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
>  > > >> Get viral, everyone! Enlist
>  > > >> all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
>  > > >>
>  > > >> --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
>  > > >> <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>  > > >>
>  > > >> > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
>  > > >> >
>  > > >> > Daily vote time:
>  > > >> >
>  > > >> >
>  > >
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>  > > >>
>  > >
> <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
>  > > >> >
>  > > >> >
>  > > >> > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
>  > > >> <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal,
> and
>  > > >> > > three days to do it in.
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > > Jenny
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> > >
>  > > >> >
>  > > >>
>  > > >>
>  > > >
>  > > >
>  > > >
>  > > >
>  > > >Yahoo! Groups Links
>  > > >
>  > > >
>  > > >
>  > >
>  > > --
>  > > Phil Gyford
>  > > http://www.gyford.com/
>  > >
>  > >
>  >
>
>

The votes for Pepys' Diary are really coming in steady right now!

48 votes to close the gap!

   http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php

Now it's 37 votes -- coming in that fast.

Keep it up!


On 11/7/07, Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...> wrote:
> Voting ends on Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 pm GMT, 5:00 pm EST, 2:00
> pm PST, etc.
>
> Pepys' Diary has been making steady gains on the frontrunner, but not
> at a rate that will close the gap in time unless we really get the
> vote out in the next 18 hours.
>
> At this time, we are 320 votes behind.
>
> Don't forget to vote!  And remind others to vote!  And find others to vote!
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
> Pass the link around. Voting is easy.
>
> On 11/6/07, Phil Gyford <lists@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Well, 406, but that's closer than it was 12 hours ago :)
> >
> >  At 07:24 +1000 2007-11-07, Susan Thomas wrote:
> >  >127 points behind! Get voting!
> >  >
> >  >Todd Bernhardt wrote:
> >  >>
> >  >> We're in second place now, but still a bit more than 12 points back.
> >  >> Get viral, everyone! Enlist
> >  >> all your friends ... after all, in the U.S., it is Election Day...
> >  >>
> >  >> --- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...
> >  >> <mailto:pauline.benson%40gmail.com>> wrote:
> >  >>
> >  >> > Foggy good morning from Seattle!
> >  >> >
> >  >> > Daily vote time:
> >  >> >
> >  >> >
> > http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
> >  >>
> > <http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php>
> >  >> >
> >  >> >
> >  >> > On 11/5/07, Jenny Doughty <jmdought@...
> >  >> <mailto:jmdought%40maine.rr.com>> wrote:
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > > We have 248 votes to go to catch up with Neil Gaiman's journal, and
> >  >> > > three days to do it in.
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > > Jenny
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> > >
> >  >> >
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >
> >  --
> >  Phil Gyford
> >  http://www.gyford.com/
> >
> >
>

We're ahead by 8 votes!!!

Keep voting! We have 'til 10 p.m. GMT/5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST (not sure what
Antipodean time that
is!)

--- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@...> wrote:

> Hello New Zealand, Australia, Singapore:
>
> We turn this hair-raiser over to you. The voting site was overloaded
> and hard to bring up all day, but we did our best.  The gap dwindles,
> but time runs out.  From waking this morning on the US west coast to
> 315, we have closed the gap to 217.
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
> Click and vote for Phil and Sam!  Call in your chits and get your
> friends to vote too.

Now is the time to think creatively as we're in the final push. We
need to note that the Pepys site has a large readership outside of
the US while the competition seems more US based, which is not to
our favor.

That being said, it's time to send reminder emails with the url to
friends, family, etc. Also, if any of you have any email lists of
people there may be a few who would not mind casting a vote in Sam's
way. I just sent emails to some select work associates, mothers at
my kid's school, a woman's group, a reminder to my kid to vote in
study hall, etc. Also, I'll send a final reminder to people I
emailed a few days ago as they can vote again today!

If you include the url for the voting all they have to do is click
and it's easy for them.

We need to really work this collectively and reach out to others for
help as the odds are not in our favor with the time differences and
voting restrictions of one every 24 hours. Most likely Sam has
gotten his EMEA 'push' for the day and those people will not be able
to vote again.

I may also post this on the site as that has a much larger
readership!

We're ahead by 8 votes!!!

Keep voting! We have 'til 10 p.m. GMT/5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST (not sure what Antipodean time that
is!)

--- Pauline Benson <pauline.benson@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello New Zealand, Australia, Singapore:
>
> We turn this hair-raiser over to you. The voting site was overloaded
> and hard to bring up all day, but we did our best. The gap dwindles,
> but time runs out. From waking this morning on the US west coast to
> 315, we have closed the gap to 217.
>
> http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-literature-blog-1.php
>
> Click and vote for Phil and Sam! Call in your chits and get your
> friends to vote too.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Dammit! We're behind again, by more than 360 votes. Gaiman just put an entry up
on his blog,
asking for votes, and it seems to be working.

Jeannine's entreaty is a good one! Mine those address books -- I just sent out a
request to 50+
friends asking for their vote ... if we all do that, we might be able to make
the difference in
these final three hours (or so) of the voting.

Remember, each computer you vote from is counted as a separate vote!

-Todd

--- jeannine_kerwin <jeannine_kerwin@...> wrote:

> Now is the time to think creatively as we're in the final push. We
> need to note that the Pepys site has a large readership outside of
> the US while the competition seems more US based, which is not to
> our favor.
>
> That being said, it's time to send reminder emails with the url to
> friends, family, etc. Also, if any of you have any email lists of
> people there may be a few who would not mind casting a vote in Sam's
> way. I just sent emails to some select work associates, mothers at
> my kid's school, a woman's group, a reminder to my kid to vote in
> study hall, etc. Also, I'll send a final reminder to people I
> emailed a few days ago as they can vote again today!
>
> If you include the url for the voting all they have to do is click
> and it's easy for them.
>
> We need to really work this collectively and reach out to others for
> help as the odds are not in our favor with the time differences and
> voting restrictions of one every 24 hours. Most likely Sam has
> gotten his EMEA 'push' for the day and those people will not be able
> to vote again.
>
> I may also post this on the site as that has a much larger
> readership!
>
>