I just read this and wanted to share it:
"In a world where billions believe their deity conceived a mortal child with a virgin human, it's stunning how little imagination most people display."
-Chuck Palahniuk Rant
I don't know if the meaning of this will change by the time I finish the book tonight, but right now I sure do like it.
I have a tendency to read blogs from people located somewhere near me. Sometimes this means the city where I live, other times it means the state in which I reside, and still other times it means the southeast. It is fairly uncommon of my to read about someone in the northeast, mid-west, or on the left coast. I think it is because I don't really relate to what they have to say. That is not exactly it, but the is something interesting about reading the thoughts of people I might actually have the opportunity to meet one day. In fact, blogs can be sort of like a "try before you buy" opportunity. A blog can facilitate a friendship in a way that allows the people to get to know others without making the big "friendship" investment of face time. A friend "test drive" if you will. The same can be said about internet chatting today and even the old school pen pal thing. For now, lets call it "friendship lite".
What is on my mind today, however, is how one's perception of a person can be completely skewed by this very passive form of communication. For example, I often write about stuff that seriously gets under my skin either at work, school, or in the general comings and goings of life. This does not mean I am a crotchety man who is always pissed off at the world. It just means I get more emotional about the ridiculous realities of dealing with people than I do with the other facets of my daily life. What you read about here is only a small part of the person I am in reality and wonder about the impression those that have never met me get from reading what I decide to write.
The flip side of this concern is how I perceive others based solely upon the drivel found on their blog and let's all just be honest with each other and agree that 99% of blog material is drivel. I admit it and so should you.
Now let's get back to the topic at hand.
Is it fair to conclude that I don't or wouldn't like person A because of their blog? Again this is much more of an issue when said person lives and works in the same town and may travel in the same circles. I argue that this is a completely unfair assessment of another person but I also admit that it is inevitable . We make judgments based on the data at hand. We have to because it is in our nature. It is an evolved skill and part of the survival instinct. Our ability to take information, process it, and make decisions is what separates us from our monkey brothers. Most of the time it is to our advantage, but the more incomplete the data is, the worse our choices have the potential of being. Even though I am aware of these issues, I still make rash judgments based on a few lines of text often written in haste or in the heat of some emotion. It is completely irrational to conclude that "Jack" is an emotionally crippled human with no sense of humor or that "Jill" is a selfish twit or "Bob" is a cool dude with whom I want to hang. Irrationality, however, is often part of being human.
I write about this because it is something I want to avoid. Blogs can give small insights into a person, but they can never express the full depth of someone's character, intelligence, wit or personality. This is as obvious as it is important, but I wonder how many blog writers and readers truly understand how little information they are giving and receiving. Anyway, it is just something to be aware of as you go about your day clicking blindly through the series of tubes we call THE INTERNET.
The blogger meeting went well last night. I think the one thing we all learned is that no one is willing to write without reward. Sorry Matt. Yes, we are a bunch of selfish weasels, but good natured ones. The consensus seems to be that if a website coving news within the state, AL.com for example, wants bloggers to contribute content they should use a system where the writers either submit posts from their own site for inclusion in the local section of the portal or have an editor choose sites and posts to feature. The idea of having bloggers contribute new and exclusive content for such a portal just did not seem to fly. That old "self interest" thing always rears its ugly head.
I hope meetings such as this continue to happen. Not just for the social aspect, but for the ability to share thoughts on the medium face to face. I think such a group should be open to all comers and I mean that sincerely. Personal disagreements aside, people should be able to come together, have fun, and talk about this wacky new thing called the internets. In order to keep things enjoyable, some simple rules of etiquette should be adopted. I have some ideas on this subject, but they are still forming and I don't want to go too far into it right now. Just know that I personally would like to see more of what happened last night.
Heads up Birmingham Bloggers!
My friend Matt over at AL.com is organizing a meeting of local blog authors. He has scheduled the meeting at 7pm on Wednesday at Panera Bread Company in Vestavia. The purpose of the gathering is an attempt to get local bloggers together and discuss some ideas generating at AL.com. Mostly this concerns opportunities for community blogging in the Birmingham area and he would like to get thoughts on some of their plans as well as generate some new ideas.
Please go to his site at http://www.cuthbert.ws/blog and let him know if you are interested in coming. Of course it is short notice, but this could be a great way to meet some of your fellow writers and maybe help promote the medium in Birmingham.
*Updated-link corrected for Dre's Ramblings*
I have been stewing over something for two days now but I have not posted about it because I didn't really want to get involved. In fact, I gently prodded another to post about the subject because I didn't want to start something that might bring me some unhappy visitors. I realize now that those actions were a bit cowardly. If I have an opinion, it is my responsibility to put it out there and not try to pawn it off on someone else. So, first I apologize to prettyhelmet for being such a wimp. Now, I would like to take this opportunity to address the issue myself.
I woke up Tuesday morning as I normally do around 5:30. By 6:00 I was out in the living room getting dressed. I do this so as not to wake up my wife. As part of my usual routine, I flipped on the TV and tuned it to channel 13 to watch the news for any traffic issues that I might have to deal with on my way into work. During the newscast I caught a brief mention for an article that was printed in that day's edition of the Birmingham News. Apparently, a local blogger was profiled for the paper. "Excellent", I thought to myself and rushed outside to get the paper. Yes, I am one of those guys that still gets the paper although that might change soon enough. I opened the paper and saw right on the top page that it was Tiny Kingdom that got the profile. Again I thought "Excellent". I am not a frequent reader of that blog, but I know of its existence and I also know that it has a bit of a large following. As I turned to the section the article was printed in, I could not help thinking that this was a great thing and that any exposure of the local blog community would be positive. When I actually read the article, I found out otherwise.
The article was just a fluff piece about how the author of Tiny Kingdom has bucked the status quo in Mountain Brook, the local high rental neighborhood. When I say fluff, I mean it in the worst possible way. There was no value in the article. I have no beef with TK. I just about never read the site. It's not my thing. It is just like the millions of other blogs out there and is better than most, but worse than others but not newsworthy at all. I digress. My real concern is that the News did not mention, not once, the growing and active blogging community here in Birmingham. There are several people making real contributions to not only the on-line community, but the entire city as a whole. As an example, take a look at what Dre is doing at his site. Here is a guy doing positive work to promote the good things in the city and, as far as I know, has not received any more publicity for his work. There are really great writers putting out great work every day and we get an article in the paper about sorting laundry in a dinning room. There are just better and more relevant stories out there if only someone would do their research. TK deserves it's accolades. Hell, the lady has even done national radio interviews. That is quite impressive. However, without mentioning what else is going on in the local blog world, the article and the News missed most of the bigger picture. That, my friends, is a disservice to all of the writers out there doing great things.
All of that being said, the fact remains that the public as a whole probably doesn't understand the "blog" thing. At times, even I don't really get the purpose. I am under no illusion that my site has any meaning and I fully realize that most of what you find here is utter excrement. It's not like I don't warn readers to that very fact in the title of the page. However, the community does exist and it exists under the radar of the general public. That we are not a major force in local affairs, yet, makes it all the more important that we support each other. By that I mean that when we read something that is witty, comical, touching, important, etc., we have a duty to let the writer know how what they said affected us. I know everyone reads a lot of these local blogs but rarely does anyone comment. The only way to get our voices heard over the din is to create a self propagating machine that grows from within. At some point a critical mass will be reached and people will know that there is more out there than reading about what little Timmy spilled on his new nike's (and yes I realize I am often guilty of the "daddy blog syndrome").
So, Hemisphere Dancer over at Doppelganger Flutter has tagged me with one of those ever so popular blog community questions. So, here goes...
Six things you did not know about me:
1. I take scalding hot showers. Sometimes when I get out of the shower my upper body is red from the heat. It does not matter if it is 150 degrees outside, I still take the hottest shower I can physically stand. Usually when I am done there is condensation dripping down the bathroom walls because of the amount of steam generated. I don't know why I do this, but it has always been this way. ...The blood never washes away. Never.
2. I have recently started watching a lot of PBS. Not because I want to be enlightened or anything like that, but because the High Definition PBS channel rocks the house. They have some great content that looks awesome. Sure I have seen documentaries about Indian Casinos in California and the constructions of the Alaskan Oil Pipeline, but mostly I have just been amazed by the fact I can see the pores in all the people's faces. Amazing stuff. Does the Spice Channel come in HD?
3. If I had the chance I would have joined the military out of high school. Something about being a military officer has always appealed to me. Alas I am not qualified for military service. I went to college instead and we all know exactly how that turned out.
4. I suffer from severe stage fright when I am in front of people. My hands get ice cold and will actually start shaking if I don't keep them busy. This, however, has not stopped my from making presentations, conducting sales pitches, and teaching technology classes. I seem to be getting better at such things but the near paralyzing fear never goes away. I have just learned to control it.
5. I think most gourmet (read expensive) food tastes like absolute ass. Lamb tartar topped with hollandaise sauce will never taste better than an expertly grilled hamburger with fresh lettuce and bacon on a warm sesame seed bun no matter who cooks it or how much it costs. Well prepared pastries, on the other hand, are absolutely delightful.
6. I once tried to lie to a cop. He knew I was lying but still did not take me to jail. I happily paid my ticket and went my merry way. I'll never try that trick again though.
I am supposed to tag six more people with this, but that ain't happening folks. I don't roll that way. Nothing personal against anyone who does, but I am crazy lazy that way so just accept that the chain dies with me. Plus, I am sure all the blog folk I know will be tagged by somebody else anyway.
Until next time...
After reading some of the day's local blog posts I was reminded how small the world really is. (Yes, I know I should not end a sentence on is...bite me.)
I find it increasingly interesting how people in Birmingham are interconnected. I know several people out in the "real world" that have popped up in the blog world as well. What is more strange is to find the connections between those people. I have experienced this occurrence many times over the last couple of years since I started writing on this site. It is a bit disturbing at times because you never really know who you might meet only to find that you have been reading their web log for some time and vice versa. Maybe your sworn internet enemy is a coworker in the next office? What if the next person you are to date has been reading all about you for years, but just doesn't know it? What if they do?
I expect the connections between Birmingham bloggers are tighter because this is a small town. I seem to be separated from most everyone here by only 3 degrees, not the popular 6. Considering how small this town is compared to New York, LA, etc., it is not surprising. The result is that many tend to travel in the same circles. Also, when one person starts a website, it is that much more likely that one of their friends will do the same thing. And so on, and so on...blah blah blah...and the connections multiply.
I never thought I would run into so many people I know personally here in the digital world, but I also never thought I would live here for 20 years either. Coincidence will always be part of reality.
All of that bullshit out of the way, when is everyone going to get together for a big Bar-B-Que blow out?
The Out Campaign