Hubris and Catharsis

I’m not so arrogant as to think that I’ve even remotely succeeded in this effort of on-line integrity. As in the real world, becoming a person of integrity is a process, not a destination.

Rebel without a Clue

I’ll admit that I’m a wannabe author. The dream of my youth was to make my living writing, while pragmatism and law school won out. As I’ve started to actively pursue my writing life I’ve always wanted, I’m finding that everything has changed in some ways and in others it hasn’t changed at all. Maybe my biggest ambition though is that societal change has always been the catalyst for great writing and great art, but it has to be writing and art that catch the spirit of an age. The rebel writer is an iconic figure – Hunter Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller, James Joyce, Norman Mailer – to name just a few from the last century, but how do you rebel in a digital culture of chaos?

The Dreaded Clique

There is another entire post on the problems created by internet or societal clique-iness. Ok, maybe an entire doctoral dissertation. Any time humans fragment into solidified groups, be it religious, economic or political, wars seem to follow. Ahh, new technology, but old, ancient problems.

Google and Amazon Aren't Always or Very Often Right

Actually Google and the equally insidious Amazon still fail miserably at giving us what we want. My idiosyncratic tastes are such that Google and Amazon fall far short of satisfying my interests. The categorizations of book shelves in a real live book store can do a better job than Amazon and predicting what I might like. Now when they start to get it right . . .

Cheerleaders

As those who actually know me, you realize that I married a cheerleader and that my ex-wife was on the drill team. The choice of which high school category to pick– both in the digital and in the real world of flesh and blood – is an obvious one. Hi honey – I love you

The Dramatic Persona and Makeup

The connection between drama and persona is a strong one. Taking the stage is to take on a new character and with make-up a new face. The entire cosmetic industry is founded on creating a mask for the intended persona. The fact that women are the primary (although not the only participants in cosmetics) shows that maybe we aren’t as far from the veiled Muslim world as we might like to think.