Talk:Xeni Jardin/Archive 2

Confirmation of birthplace and family

Her brother Carl wrote a brief bio of himself that mentions their birthplace and confirms some other bio details. Here's an excerpt:

I was born in Richmond in 1976 - we had a house on Peach Tree blvd.. off of Broad street. This was the only house on the block and the rest of the block was woods--- just up from Willow Lawn where they have since built a very big shopping center and a bunch of new homes that all look alike. I was told that back then, those woods were filled with all sorts of rare trees and flowers that are native to Virginia. My sister and i spent hours and hours exploring in "our" forest. Whenever I got snagged by a thorn bush she'd say "step over them, or on them! Don't walk straight into them silly!!" That was a great metaphor for dealing with life's problems.

My father, who was a painter and VCU art professor, passed on when I was 3.... My mother was an editor for the Publications department at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for 25 years and has recently retired to do freelance writing, editing, and publishing....My Stepfather, who married my Mother when I was 10...

--Zippy 19:59, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I think this wording is somewhat confusing

"Her father, artist Glenn B. Hamm Jr., died in August 1980 of ALS. The death affected her deeply, and Jardin left home at age 14 but remained in school in Richmond."

Specifically, I think it leads the reader to believe that her father's death was the direct cause of her leaving home, shortly after it happened. While I think its possible Mr. Hamm's death was an important cause, considering the dates, it appears she left home some 6 years later. In my mind its likely that there were other causes as well. Assigning one event to the cause like that seems like speculation. Also, what child wouldn't be affected deeply by her father's death? Perhaps this should be tied into some significance regarding her development. I propose changing the wording to at least split the "left home" wording into a different sentence from the death "affected her deeply" wording.

--C33 17:34, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. The LAT is a little murky with dates and details, and as I have found from another recent project, sometimes people simply misremember some things. There was also vague mention of a stepfather somewhere, so I will see what other published info we can find. Jokestress 17:49, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Career

I removed the following info because it was not cited. Please find a verifiable reference and then repost it upon adding the required references.

Xeni started as an event producer and writer for Jason Calacanis at Rising Tide Studios which produced the Silicon Alley Reporter and Digital Coast Reporter.

Questions, comments, concerns? -- Joe Beaudoin Jr. ^{Think out loud} 23:08, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Here's a cite. http://www.calacanis.com/2005/04/09/xeni-finally-gets-a-profile/ --Zippy 10:09, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Well, "started" is a poor choice of words. I started as an embryo, as did we all (androids excepted). But yes, in the late '90s through September, 2001, I was a contributing writer and Vice President of Conferences for Rising Tide Studios. The company produced tech events and online and print publications including Silicon Alley Reporter and Digital Coast Reporter. --Xenijardin 19:21, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I rewrote some of the Career section to not sound like a stalker was drooling all over the page. It's not complete. Her website has more detailed information if someone actually cares to go through it and add her entire CV. Seems kinda pointless though. Ioerror 03:22, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Stalkerish? I'm sorry it came across that way. That certainly wasn't my aim. I do think that notable people are, well, notable. I think the arc of a person's career shows where they're coming from, where they're going, and gives some depth to the article. I included detail here on the discussion page to make it possible to fact-check the article. --Zippy 04:38, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

The way the possible names were listed seemed like a PI was taking some spare time to fill in a wikipedia entry. Or a google sleuther with far too much time on their hands. I suggest that someone just take her CV from her website. She wrote it and it's probably the easy way to make sure it's correct. I mean, if someone cares to fill in her entire job history. I think that she's done lots of notable things that aren't listed but I'm pretty busy so I haven't bothered to update it. Ioerror 01:16, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I think the Wikipedia (and news weblogs as well) are so tremendous precisely because there are users who love to do their own research and cross-check what's presented to them, often for the joy of making an article stronger. Xeni's official bio is a fine citeable source, but Wikipedia articles are more credible when you can say "yes, her official bio says this, and here's an independent verifiable source that supports it." In the end, the Wikipedia is what it is largely because of searchers with way too much time on their hands :) --Zippy 09:28, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough. I suppose I was pretty put off by the original tone of the section in the wiki article. It's been fixed, good job on the edits. ;-) Ioerror 18:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

To a point I agree. However, is her career prior to '99 relevent? Does it reflect on how/why she is notable? If so, what about her escapades in guatamala, or her history with drugs (according to the LA times article) ? Dstanfor 18:23, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Her career before '99 is relevent. If this article is intended to be a comprehensive source of information on the subject, then the life of the suject prior to the events that make them notable for inclusion in Wikipedia is of absolute relevence. One of the problems with writing a good page on this particular subject is that the subject appears to be entirely non-notable prior to her blogging career and that the subject appears to have gone to some length to obfuscate her past. Glowimperial 18:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

This -- "appears to have gone to some length to obfuscate her past" -- is a non-neutral and decidedly unreasonable statement with no base in fact. The public record, including material I've blogged myself on BoingBoing, proves that quite the opposite is the case. Xenijardin 19:11, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps you aren't the best person to point out who's being neutral and whos not in this discussion. 208.20.220.72 20:26, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Xeni - There's nothing wrong with trying to obfuscate one's past. I'm not critisising or attacking you for doing so. It is my perspective that you have made efforts to obfuscate your personal history, including the history of your name. I don't have any malice towards you whatsoever, I'm just trying to make this be the best and most comprehensive article that it can be. I don't particularily enjoy having to read into your statements regarding your past or the history of your name, as I have no desire to have portions of this article become speculative in nature, but I do feel that your statements regarding yourself could be construed to be either vague or intended to obfuscate the issue. Of course, you have no obligation to provide information regarding yourself at all or to participate in what I'm sure is an odd discussion regarding yourself (Being written about by a bunch of people who have never met you and are attempting to author a comprehensive biographical document about you, is most likely an irritating situation, given the vast gulf of ignorance in our knowledge of the subject.), and your attention to the matter is appreciated. Glowimperial 21:03, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I support the removal of "photographer" from the career section. I found no references to Xeni's work being professionally shown in galleries or anything other than her snap shots on the web. Taking pictures does not make one a photographer. Posing for a photographer who is known publicly to be a personal friend seems non-notable as well. LikeItsABadThing 17:25, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Xeni Jardin has editted her entry

It bothers me that a user named Xenijardin has been editing this entry. I hope that it's an imposter, not because I admire her - I think that the "blogosphere" is a bunch of bunk, and boingboing is like a five man mob - but because it would be terribly unethical.

Well, whatever, he/she has been restoring the images recently and creating a new article about one collaborator of her. It too bothers me. --J 11:56, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Considering that Xeni Jardin is a supposed progressive tech blogger and correspondent, and that the BoingBoing collaborators are outspoken proponents of Creative Commons and progressive media, I think it would be in the interest of the actual article to note that she created/edited the page. Vanity and self-promotion can become problematic in the wiki model; her role in the tech community would warrant this kind of spotlight. TGV 06:54, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Also, the net result of Xenijardin's edits was +2 cats, -1 stub, and +1 picture. --Christopherlin 00:38, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

In the early days of this entry, I made a few edits to preserve factual correctness and provide assets that would not have otherwise been available. Nothing that strayed from the imperative to maintain neutral point of view. There's nothing "terribly unethical" about that, nor does it reflect "vanity and self promotion," nor does it contradict the goals of Wikipedia. That said, I later learned that editing an entry about yourself is generally frowned-upon and considered best avoided -- so I haven't edited the page since. --Xenijardin

Jokestress added that Xeni is a photographer. Has she been shown in non-vanity galleries, honored or paid for her photography? If not, then she is a photographer like anybody else is who owns a camera is. Her posing for photographs by a photographer, how is that notable?