barrettchase.com

barrettchase.com
obey the rules. often enter. organize your material.

Tue, 08 Feb 2011

So after a hiatus, I've returned to the internet in the form of this weird thing. Welcome. Let me show you around the place.

As you can see, it's very plain. This is on purpose. I'm not using any blogging software or content-management system whatsoever. Everything is hand-coded using a simple text editor (either TextEdit or Gedit, depeding on whether I'm on MacOS or Ubuntu -- for you Windows users, think Notepad). The "design" if you can even call it that is an extremely gentle tweak of your browser default settings. Everything is on one page, and the plan is for it to stay that way. When I write a new post, I'll just tack it on at the top of the .txt file I keep on my desktop, and upload it. This is all very Web 1.0. Hell, this is Web 0.9.

A great metaphor for what I'm doing here is the idea of getting rid of your car (or at least leaving it in the garage) and riding your bike to work instead. Sure, it sounds like a pain in the ass. But if your commute is short and relatively safe, and if the climate you live in is comfortable enough for your tastes, it definitely becomes an option. You don't really need all the luxuries that a car provides -- cruise control, sound system, air conditioning -- if you're only driving for five minutes a day anyway. All you need is to get from one place to the other. The bike is a cheap, healthy option that is quicker than walking and much cheaper and cleaner than driving.

Also, biking keeps you in shape. That's my favorite part of the metaphor, because it's a big part of why I'm returning to writing on the internet. I'm in horrible writing condition. I need to start seeing life in terms of the written word again, to slow down and see artistic potential in physical things. You probably rolled your eyes at that last sentence and I don't blame you. Like I said, horrible writing condition.

So much of blogging is about things other than writing. It's about social interaction. It's about how many comments you can get. It's about commenting on other people's sites so that they come back and comment on yours. It's about how many hits you get. It's about how many subscribers you get. It's about getting reblogged. It's about getting likes on Tumblr and Facebook. It's about reblogging and liking, trying to build an audience of fellow rebloggers and likers, who reblog and like you in return. It's exhausting. And kind of disgusting.

I don't need any of that, and to keep myself on the right path, I've rendered it all impossible. There is no commenting system. Hell, there isn't even an RSS feed. If anyone is going to read this journal, they're going to have to bookmark it and keep coming back.

I know. I know. No one is going to read this journal. Not under these circumstances.

I'm okay with that. Before I started this, I tried a few other things. I had a secret blog for awhile. I got so bored with it that I actually forgot where it was, and had to search through my browser history to find it so I could delete it. I tried writing in a file on my desktop and keeping it there, but there was no accountability. I could write any kind of crap and it wouldn't matter. Those cheesy writing books always say that is a good thing, but it really isn't. Writing crap isn't fun.

With this, I'll be publishing stuff on a URL with my actual name on it. I did this for seven years, and it was almost always enjoyable. Except when it got unenjoyable and I quit. But I think all I needed was to wipe the board clean and start afresh.

Ugh. Like I said. Horrible writing condition.

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