Friends and Foes

As this blog (a word I’m not entirely thrilled with) gains momentum and begins its uncharted course down (or up?) the steep tracks of Internet life I think it worthwhile to set a few things straight. I already explained my obsession with embedded links, so let’s move on to the use of names, or rather the lack thereof in this blog. I use pseudonyms, aliases, secret club fort names for everyone in this blog. Why? Because when you have an arch nemesis like I do… well.

So there really is no way to be entirely certain who anybody is around here – and that’s great. Its like a masquarade ball, full of mystique and intrigue. Yes you can probably figure out who many of these people are if you know the players involved, yet, so long as the mask is in place, there’s a permissiveness that extends beyond the everyday. Juliet knew damn well she was flirting with Romeo at the ball, you can’t tell me she was that stupid, but the mask just makes these things permissible.

So.

If you know me there’s a good chance you’re in here. You may even recognize yourself. The names I have chosen are based on a person’s character, their personality, their relation to me and the happenings of our turning little world. Metaphorical or literal, the names speak for themselves. This should also eliminate the embarrassing occasion of an ex-lover Googling her own name and finding drunken stalkeresque rants in her honour slashed across HTML. That was hard to talk my way out of.

So enjoy the names, and remember, its not slander if you can’t prove who it was meant to be.

Dropping the Veils that hold us…

I had a moment of satori on the train today, one of those moments where it all, magically, miraculously makes sense. No, it isn’t a miracle, its just a return to sanity, to those things that we all know, but forget we know.

The catalyst was a passage in the book I was reading, it set sparks dancing, electrons jumping, chemicals linking and combining in my brain. Zap! Click! Zap! When you know something is true it washes over you like warm toffee butter – soft, smooth, warm.

“Its so fucking obvious. Why did I forget this?”

All those repeated pronouncements of thinkers, artists and leaders, those quotes that we love, lapping them up like puppies, then pissing out hours later like we never heard them.

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” – Helen Keller

One of my favourites. How easy it is to say things, to listen to the words without hearing their truth. Truth is lived, words are merely wigglings of the jaw. Language is our demon, it gives us signs to confuse with the truth. The map says we’re where?

The satori eventually faded and crumpled, not thick or hot enough to provoke real action, but enough to lighten my steps on the way home.

And who would I be if I didn’t tell you the name of the book? I think this particular cover is a bit tacky. I like mine better. There. How’s that for hubris?

Not friendly Enough

Its almost possible to make a nice blog or web page without knowing shit about CSS or XML… but not quite.

WordPress has twice thwarted me in my attempts to add some enjoyable stuff to my sidebar using widgets. I’m sure I can circumvent the problem by going directly into the CSS, but in an ideal world I wouldn’t have to. I should be able to work on my blog while drunk and sleep deprived without wrecking the entire thing. As it stands it seems I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Damn you all.

And So It Begins…

After several failed attempts at starting themed blogs which failed to retain my interest for more than a month or two I’ve finally decided to go with the subject with which I have the most intimate knowledge, myself. This will be like one of those 1990’s personal expose web sites but in blog form. Why not a facebook, MySpace or Tribe profile? Well, because I have all of those and it seems easier to just feed them from a central source rather than trying to maintain them all.

Besides, eventually I’ll take the time to learn CSS and turn this into something more interesting and appealing than just a series of personal ravings. Eventually I think that’s where this is all going to go, when designing a website is as intuitive as playing with Crayola markers but interactive and interconnected. It won’t matter if you’re on facebook or Tribe, everything will seamlessly flow into everything else, personalized yet pervasive.

But for now…