Category: Just Shelley

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Just Shelley

For those about to rock!

Sometimes it seems that life is found moments of delight interconnected by serendipity.

I looked out my window this evening, astonished to see people everywhere, as well as boats crowding the harbor. Checking online, I found that there was a fireworks show in front of my place tonight, the KFOG Kaboom.

I could have watched the show at home, but what’s the fun of that?

I walked the few blocks down to the waterfront, merging in with a very good natured crowd. As we entered the viewing area, I heard a guy in low-voiced consultation with his wife:

“They’re going to be searching your purse up ahead.”

“It’s okay, I left the gun at home.”

I’m sure they were joking. Though, this is America…

Tents were serving beverages, including my favorite margaritas; I got into line, enjoying the voices and interactions of the people around me as I waited my turn. When I ordered my drink, the person serving gives me a big smile, and returns with my drink served in a double cup.

“You’re the lucky double cup.”

He then yells out to the crowd behind me, “We’re all out!”

I flowed with the crowd until almost to the water, finding a fairly calm and decent spot by the fence, listening to the music blaring out over huge loudspeakers. To the left was the Bay bridge, outlined in lights. To the right, a fleet of boats, most silhouetted in bright colored lights.

Rock n’ Roll! A Rock n’ Roll fireworks show. Better and better.

The DJ came on and introduced the station to the crowd and then yelled out “Let the fireworks begin!”

What followed was 20 minutes of the best fireworks show I’ve seen, perfectly correographed to the music. Smiley faces and gold waterfalls. Red hearts and purple and green planets admid silver galaxies. Around me was the happy and excited voices of the crowd, bodies swaying and swinging to the tunes, breathing in the strong sweet smell of canibus.

Well, this was a rock n’ roll fireworks show.

Finally, to the strains of “For those about to rock”, the finale: explosions of fireworks so large and so close, they lit the harbor as the crowds vibrated from the percussion.

When it was all over a 10 minute walk had me back in my own apartment as a quarter million people made their way home.

I love this city.

Categories
Just Shelley

Dart in the map

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I’ve had a couple of weblogging buddies ask me where I’m thinking of moving to. The honest answer is, I have no idea. I’ll have to give notice at my apartment the first of June, and move by end of July. That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

I’d rather spend my time writing or walking or taking pictures or playing with technology or driving Golden Girl around the countryside. I’m in the mood of leaving the thinking to others most likely wiser than me at this time.

However, I only have a few weeks to make a decision so I need to get going. I could use the scientific method of sticking a map on the wall and shooting a dart at it, but with my luck it would continue hitting San Francisco. Or Antarctica. Or my butt.

Here’s a new one for weblogging — in 20 words or less, where should I go and why? And please, no answers of “…to hell”. I did that already when I went through puberty.

Winner gets an autographed copy of the weblogging book when it comes out. See, a prize. Only the best from Burningbird for my friends.

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Weblogging Writing

New O’Reilly book on weblogging

We’ve been given the go ahead from O’Reilly, the “…FRIENDLIEST and most WONDERFUL publisher we’ve ever dealt with” (sorry, a little editor tease there), to announce a new book on weblogging!

Among the authors is yours truly, writing the chapters on Blogger. I’m joined by Mena and Ben Trott writing about Movable Type, Scott Johnson who’s been dropping hints about the book, Rael Dornfest from O’Reilly, and Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing fame. Nathan Torkington is the editor that has to manage this wild and wooly crowd.

The book should be out in September. Start saving your pennies now.

The name of the book will either be Weblogging Essentials or Practical Weblogging. My preference of course is for the latter since I’m also writing Practical RDF.

Categories
Weblogging Writing

In support of Content

Normally I don’t insert my body into the ranks of the weblogging intelligentsia when AKMA, Searls, Weinberger, Himmer, and so on become deeply engaged in cross-blogging about particularly heavy and philosophical topics. I’m usually happy to just sit back and watch the flow — brain pushups.

However, when the topic is “content” and the by-play between participants is so interesting, why I just have to jump in. My only worry is that the gang will take one look at my efforts and throw me back. My eyes are clear, and my scales are firm, so we can hope.

The thread root seems to be a posting that Doc made, in which he says:

That’s why it’s no coincidence that when Big Media (and .com wannabe Big Media) saw the Web, they took everything we used to call “art,” “editorial,” “music,” and “news” — and recharacterized it all as “content.” Because “content” is something you ship, something you distribute. It’s not necessarily something you share.

Doc has a very good point — is the use of the word “content” a way of demeaning what we write? Instead of literature, we create content. Instead of art, we create content?

Weinberger continues on this theme when he states:

Links not only literally make the Web a web, but the nature of those links determines almost everything that is interesting and important about it. Content is to the Web as zombies are to human culture.

Beautifully said. Powerful. And Halley responds in agreement, stating “People who use the word ‘content’ make my words into whores.”

Chris fearlessly drenches his feathers by jumping in, cannon ball style with:

Shuffling, whether off the mortal coil, or into the spotlight, it’s the motion, not the meat, mama. The medium ain’t worth a rat’s posterior. The eye is drawn to motion – ‘don’t move or he’ll see us’ is whispered child’s-voice breathlessly in a technicolour dream of Monsters Under The Bed.

When Wonder Chicken turns demented owl, there is no better read on the web.

AKMA, my favorite man of the cloth used the dastardly word and paid the ultimate price. However, he saves the theological bacon with a lovely posting, containing among other things:

If we distinguish web “content” from any other aspect of online textuality–MIDI background music (argh), Flash animations, “blink” tags, Java-scripted moving buttons, whatever–we deny the meaningfulness of auditory, graphical, kinetic stiumuli, a pretty mess into which I wish I hadn’t stepped.

By the way, AKMA, how’s the term DylanBoy for Mike Golby, who also added his thoughts to the fray with “stuff happens”.

If each of these postings was a unique note, this symphony would be a keeper.

Being the curious sort, I did a Thesaurus search on content. Following is a summarized view of the results:

Of well-being and affections
Existence in space, being both the dissenter and the noncomformist
Averse acquiescence, uncontradicted
Cordial and cheery to the marrow, from the bone
These dainty comforts, scraps from the album

Odd, but when you look at “content” this way, I don’t mind being a content creator.

Categories
Diversity Just Shelley

Associations

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Mike Golby found another “friend”, Stone Reynolds, who seems to be unhappy at Mike’s treatment of another weblogger, Mike Sanders.

However, in an amazing display of twisted brotherhood, Mike Golby states:

There’s something decidedly odd about this guy. His half-formed views appall me but I find, dare I say it, a sense of humor, in his writing. And a sense of humor, they say, is everything (of course, it could be a mask hiding naked hatred but, like my friend Christopher Locke, I am a professional and can handle any situation should it turn ugly).

So, I’ll be stopping by at a hell of a note from time to time – if only to swap gratuitous insults and find out what’s going down in the world of racism, sexism, anything lewd and smutty, the good ol’ boys, the loony right, etc. Look at it this way. If St0ne Freeman is a friend of WonderChicken’s, how can he not be a friend of mine?

To which Stone replies:

I promptly posted a comment there expressing my thanks and overall flabbergasmic response to his review.
…

Sounds good to me…and PageCount: Into The Lake of Fire joins my linklist

All of this would be interesting, except for the fact that I got dragged into this indirectly.

It seems that Stone doesn’t have too high an opinion of me for my “mistreatment” of Mike Sanders, either. But he continues his lack of high opinion elsewhere with little tidbits like the following:

And, speaking of MT and self-respecting ‘bloggers, burningbird, for all her l33t skillz, needed help from stavros to get MT installed. I’m not sure what that says about MT, or the flamingfowl…but if Dave had any difficulty with the installation, he hasn’t yet mentioned it.

Seeing all this, Mike Golby writes:

And, from there on in (while doffing his cap this way and that to various and vicious warbloggers of note), St0ne proceeds to rip into Shelley (for whom he nurses a dark and secret passion), Jeneane, Dave Winer, and me.

To which Freeman responds with:

There’s something decidedly odd about this guy”, Golby notices. I can’t argue with that, but I vigorously dispute the “dark and secret passion” he alleges I nurse for Shelley Powers.

I have a sense of humor. I really do. And I appreciate that both Stone and Mike got a chuckle out of this interchange. However, I found my association with the phrase and the entire exchange to be demeaning.

A simple phrase — funny or interesting for one person, embarrassing or painful to another. Thoughtless associations. Stupid word tricks.

Guilty as charged.

I wrote a posting last week that talked about Mike and Chris Locke and how much I admire and envy their writing skills. In this posting I used an association, a phrase, that looking back now I realize I shouldn’t have used. I pulled and re-posted this several times since, but pulled it permanently today.