My three year weblogging anniversary is on April 5th, I believe. I can’t exactly remember the day and the old weblog, an old hosted Manila weblog, has long since gone from lack of updates. But the 5th is close enough.
Three years slaying dragons. Three years tilting at windmills.
Three years. That’s a long time, or at least, it feels like it’s been a long time. If I had applied myself and this were a university, I would have a degree now. If the words were added together and bound, I’d have at least a couple of books. If the photos were printed and mounted, I’d have several shows. If the technology expended were applied to a project, I’d have at least one weblogging tool, possibly an aggregator or two, and the RDF Poetry Finder completed. If I’d been paid for the time, I’d be rich. If the people I’ve met were all in the same room, I’d have a huge party, though I may have to keep my back to the wall at times – I haven’t always been complimentary, nor have I always kept quiet when I should all things being equal. (Note to self at anniversary party: remove sharp knives, and provide plastic forks and chop sticks with dull ends. Lots of booze, but provide juice for those who have quit. Drinking that is, not weblogging.)
Dave Rogers (who has had a weblog since 1999, that old weblogging fart) recently said something on knowing when to keep quiet, but I can’t find the post. He said that we don’t always have to fight the fights; we don’t always have to respond or take issue with everything that comes along. However, he also says, But what do I know? That should be a tagline we’re all forced to wear in our spaces, like the slave standing behind the triumphant returning general, whispering into the hero’s ears as he’s hailed by the masses, Thou art mortal. Thou art mortal.
(By the way, I ‘own’ these words in Google. Ah, such is the intimacy between Google and Weblogs, another subject I’ve discussed here many a time. Remember ‘googlewhacking”? Well, from the site that fish has done been chewed and the sharks have moved on. )
For the next week in celebration of my three years anniversary, I’m combining equal parts old and new, something borrowed, and too many things blue, to create my own party mix; to see where I’ve been, and where I’m at, and where I want to go. Yeah, one of those historical perspective things–somewhat like the slide shows you had to sit through at the neighborhood parties when you were a kid. Feel free to skip the week if you wish.
Among the old will be links to past posts, mine and others, that have impacted me, good and bad. With each, through the magic of hindsight and semi-permanent archives, I’m going to give a contemporary take on the whatever the subject was, or should I say, is.
I’ll also be republishing favorite photos; my favorite photos, not necessarily the ones that others have liked. In addition, I’ll be providing at least one post with links to articles and technical how-tos from the past that could still be useful, but have disappeared into the archives and become difficult to find.
That’s the old. For the new, I’ve been discussing future book ideas with Simon St. Laurent, and Simon sent representative examples of several new and existing book ‘brands’ that O’Reilly is now publishing. I was rather amazed at how far the company has come from just being the publisher of the popular ‘animal books’, so I’m going to be reviewing one or two in each of the brands–what I like about the books, and whether I could see myself writing a book within the brand. You learn about some nifty books, and I learn more about myself as a writer. What goodness.
Interspersed throughout all of this will be some writings about Walker Evans. Reading about his life has made me take a closer look at mine. And that’s about all I can say on this for now.
Sound fun? Yes? No? Doesn’t really matter what you think, though, does it? After all, in our spaces, it’s all about us.