sometimes i swear i still hear the screams of ex-employees coming from old dusty desolate cubes.

part of my job is to determine the direction of the creative services group to better this company.

what if i feel the best thing for the company would be to drop creative completely?

would it be wise to advise my own firing?

i just constructed a case study/success story to impress a potential client.

in the story, we brag about moving a former client from a keyboard based system to a mouse driven system.

man, we need some new success stories.

just think, it's tomorrow in china. isn't that wierd?

if anyone is reading this in china, leave a comment. it would be sooooo coooool to get a message from the future.

hey, chinese future dude, do you have flying cars?

oh, and one more thing, i am so done with the readers in hawaii. sometimes they seem so... well, you know... yesterday.

i am disappointed to see a decline in usability of late on the net. it really seemed like usability would define the next generation of the net, but i am beginning to doubt that.

while i was sleeping, cdnow.com slipped into the swirling vortex of amazon.com. it is quite obvious cdnow content was just slammed into an ancient amazon information architecture originally designed to sell books. if you can actually find the cd you are looking for, the track listing for the cd is near the bottom of the page reach by endless scrolling. much of the great supporting information cdnow had has disappeared.

if you had not noticed, google is starting to suck. before you crucify me for saying such a thing, remember i am talking about usability, not functionality. the awsomeicity of googles functionality increases almost daily. because of that the usability is getting worse and worse. switching between the regular search and the image search leaves much to be desired, it could be much "smarter" based on user tendencies.

yahoo has morphed into a completely useless portal over time. the usage of white space on the home page is the worst i have ever seen. 20 lb of shit in a 10 lb bag. it is really hard to decipher content from advertising (surely done on purpose).

ironically, i felt these three sites were industry benchmarks for usability only a few years ago. coincidentally all 3 have gone from sites with very focused and specific key user tasks to sites with very broad offerings catering to an almost undefinable audience.

wake up jakob it is time to bust some ass.

i just shaved my head again. looking in the mirror, i realize i look like the victim of a nazi concentration camp.

actually, one of those 4 star concentration camps with a gourmet chef and a large dessert selection.

one with an in room snack bar and mints on your pillow.

hey! it's my doodle of the day over at doodleoftheday.co.uk!

a cool little site, check it out!

the dallas tolway has some problems...

- people don't pay at the toll booths
- people don't slow down at the toll booths
- 75 cents in change is a pain in the ass
- errent quarters miss the basket and litter the ground
- the toll trools are always in a bad mood

the way i see it if your not part of the solution, your part of the problem. strictly in the interest of making this city a better place to live, i have a few suggestions...

- make the toll an even dollar (but not 4 quarters)
- replace the toll booths with poles
- replace the coin catching basket with a g-string
- replace the toll troll with a major hottie
- replace those blinding white lights with black lights
- replace the toll troll's tiny hand held a.m. radio tuned a ukrainian news station to a bass boomin' 10,000 watt system pumping out hair metal from the 80's (perhaps motley crue's girls girls girls).

how great would that be?

i have not been to my church since late october. every sunday (except for the brief winter hiatus) i attend the church of the perfectly trimmed lawn.

the task is monotonous and requires no thought. my lawn mower is loud, so loud most all audible distractions are eliminated. my brain and i share 3 hours of beautiful uninterrupted quality time with one another. usually my "church" is kicked off with one of many simple questions my brain poses as i begin mowing, soon the simple question leads me down a path of contemplation deeper than any traditional church has ever offered.

i wonder if the grass screams in pain when i cut it. if it screams, am i evil? if i am evil, was i born evil? if i was born evil, is it possible for me to be good? if it is possible to be good, is life a test? if life is a test, what happens if i pass the test? passing the test leads to many more questions that lead to many more beyond that. never ending questions.

as i wheel the mower back into the garage, generally good feelings wash over me. pride in a yard that looks good. amusement in the realization that there are many questions i will never answer in my lifetime. satisfaction that the contemplation led me to answer a few of the questions.

my next house will have an even bigger yard.

the next dfw blogs happy hour should be big fun!

the ongoing bloggie silliness has changed none of my opinions about anyone involved. very few of the postings/comments i have read accurately portray any of the people i have met through the dfwblogs group. a group with which i am proud to be associated.

i am switzerland.

i love the way she mixes up and combines common phrases.

wife - "i wouldn't give him the light of day"
me - "i think you really hit the needle on the haystack"
wife - "what-ever, you know what i mean"
me - "i am the only one who knows what you mean"

jeez, i checked the stats today. for some unknown reason i am gettin' a mad hit count. time to take advantage of this wave and spread the luv. so, now that you are here and you find yourself thouroghly dissappointed with my site, here are a few blogs much better than this one.

the dent in the yard was about the size of a softball and nearly eight inches deep. a trail from the dent to the open door of my house was visible. the suppressed grass blades pointed to the door. there was a barely visible path from the door to the couch. listening closely i could hear labored breathing and an occasional sloshing sound.

the darkness behind the couch cloaked what appeared to be a ball of some sort. perhaps my son's softball. a softball that wheezed and slightly trembled. a flashlight was needed.

the beam of light caused it's eyes to close. it clenched it's eyelids so tightly, it belched. spittle ran down it's chin and soaked into the carpet. it looked sort of like a small head, but it was almost perfectly round. no torso, arms, or legs. it rolled forward a few inches to avoid the light.

it was an unattractive little head, but it did not frighten me. it seemed harmless enough, i mean with no body, arms, or legs what kind of serious threat could it pose? that being said, it wasn't really something i wanted in the house. i doubt it would share the litter box with the two cats.

i moved the couch aside and reached down to pick it up. i didn't know what i would do with it, perhaps just throw it into the sky and hope it returns to the place from which it came. as my hand gripped it, i was surprised how soft it's flesh was and how easily the flesh moved around a solid skull form a half an inch or so under the flesh. i tried to lift it, the flesh distorted but the skull inside did not move. it felt as if it was nailed to the floor. two hands would be needed. i lifted with both hands and was shocked. the head easily weighed over 200 pounds. only an inch off the floor i dropped it. the face was not amused. i remembered a back pain brochure that illustrated the proper way to lift heavy objects. i straddled the head, back straight with slightly bent knees. i tried to interlock my fingers underneth the fleshy orb.

just then the doorbell rang. i left the head so see who it could be.

a boy stood at the door holding a box of oversized nestle crunch bars. "hello sir, i am part of the candy for college program, i am visiting your neighborhood looking for sponsors..."

just then i heard a rolling sound from behind me. the sound grew in volume as it neared. the face of the boy verified what i feared was happening. the little head rolled onto the boys left foot. the boy dropped the crunch bars and screamed. he tried to retract his foot but the weight of the orb was too great.

i looked down just in time to see the head dislocate it's jaw and expand it's mouth to easily grip the boy's ankle. the grip turned into a bite, and inside of a second or two the head bit clean through. the boy immediately fell to the ground and into shock. the boy trembled as the tiny head expanded just enough to devour him much like a snake swallowing an rat. i can safely say it was probably the most horrific thing i have ever seen. amazingly the volume of the boy was being compressed into the softball sized creature. that sort of explained it's incredible weight.

moments after it's lips closed over the boys scalp, a tongue darted out and cleaned it's lips of any remaining scalp hairs. then the head put it in reverse and rolled back into the house and under the couch. i picked up the box of crunch bars, sat down on the couch and turned on the tv remotely.

man, i love crunch bars.

make sure you attend 20x2 at sxsw. sit in the front row and watch me make a complete idiot of myself. as a bonus, it's very possible you will see a full mental breakdown. breakdowns are always fun to watch when they happen to other people.

anyway, 20x2 was kind enough to extend an invite, so i accepted. recently they asked for a 108 x108 pixel graphic from each participant to use on the site. easy enough, right?

i created the above image. my wife asked "what the hell is that!? i don't get it." i began an explanation of my creation...

"well, it's 20 x 2. 20 panelists are asked the same question and have 2 minutes to answer. so i was thinking the panel is sort of like a team, 20 people with a common goal (answering a question) and they will be timed, kind of like the last two minutes in a basketball game. hence the little animated clock thingy. then i thought about jerseys and how they have numbers, so i scanned my freshman basketball photo and photoshoped 20x2 on the jersey. then i needed some sort of continuity with my site so i choose the ugly green color, blah, blah, blah..."

the explanation continued for another few minutes and i started to realize she was sorry she asked. i am sure my voice sounded like charlie brown's teacher.

she finally cut me off. "why didn't you just use a current photo of yourself? for god's sake it's just 108 pixels by 108 pixels."

at that moment i realized the self imposed hell i live in. the self imposed hell all visual designers live in. not everything a designer builds needs an underlining concept that ties multiple elements together in a tidy package. most people viewing it will never make those connections and just assume you are insane.

that might not be far from the truth.

i immediately realized i had dialed the wrong number, i hung up only half way into the first ring. i redialed the correct number. an answering machine picked up and an angry female voice shouted in broken english with a thick chinese accent.

"herrow!?!? what you want?!?! joe not here now. i cook his rice and do his laundry. you leave message now, maybe he get it. joe no like me answer phone, you leave message now!"

beep.

"uh, um,... yeah, this is griff, i just wanted to call and tell you that uh, we enjoyed talking with you and would like to offer you a position. call me to arrange another meeting. um, i hope this is the right number, if not, please disregard this message. thanks."

i was confused, it seemed like an odd outgoing message for one in a job search. i checked the dailed number against the resume's and found it to be correct. i probably should have been offended by the racial slurs and stereotyping of the out going message, but as a caucasion middle aged male (don't tell anyone, but we have it made in this world), it is hard to get to worked up about stuff like that.

ring, ring.

still confused, i answered my phone forgeting usual formal greetings of my company name and an introduction. i assumed it was the applicant returning my call, perhaps he was unable to pick up when i left the message.

"hello?"

this time, an angry male voice shouted in broken english with a thick chinese accent. "what you want?! why you call me?! i don't know why you torment me! i call cops, then you be sorry!"

i assumed it was the applicant, continuing the answering machine joke. i thought it sort of ballsy, since we barely knew each other and he was trying so hard to make a good impression in the interviews. "uh, yeah, well, when can you come in?"

"fuck you! you bad man. i call cops."

at this point i realized i was not speaking to the applicant, i was speaking to a real person who was really chinese and really angry.

"um, sorry, i have to go now." and i hung up the phone.

i sat starring at my phone for a very long time. my brain hurt. what the hell just happened?

ring, ring.

again i forgot the corporate answer and just said "hello?"

"hello! thanks for calling back so soon, i am very excited about the opportunity, when can i come in?"

"you come soon, we talkie" i replied in a terrible fake chinese accent. we both chuckled briefly. very briefly.

for a week my brain recounted the events and conversations trying to figure out what had happened. to the best i can figure, my first mis-dial was to the real angry chinese man. he must have picked up as i was hanging up and assumed i was a prank call. then he was so angry he star 69ed me so that he could vent his anger.

the next time you find yourself in a 3 hour project status meeting contemplating how far you could push that 5 year anniversary pen into your left nostril before stabbing your brain and committing suicide, try this.

look at that person next you. specifically their ears. i mean really look at em. look how odd they are. kinda funny huh? ears are really weird.

as a visual designer, the ultimate sin is to break design continuity. ears do exactly that. no where on your body is there any precedent set for the form the ear takes. the ears stand alone.

mine have great big fleshy floppers at the bottom. weird. it has caused me to consider lobe reduction surgery.

i am not really one to post tech notes here but, after 8+ hours of wrestling with itunes, toast, os 9.2, an iomega cd 650 burner, an untold number of extensions, across three different macs i have discovered some thing.

memorex cd-r sucks.

all the problems were in the CD-R media! switched to verbatim, and everything works fine. go figure. once again this proves the problem is always in the last thing you fix. i can only hope the macintosh gods forgive me for my misplaced anger and speaking ugly of itunes in an ignorant moment.

anyway, all this effort went into creating a couple music cds for the cd mix of the month. 18 tracks that i can't explain why i picked. most of the tunes would not even crack my top 500 song list. they just seemed to flow right together (at least to me).

now i eagerly await a few discs from the man with impeccable musical taste - josh. i sent 2 discs, so if you participated, you may end up with one of mine. Josh requests a track list and a tidbit about each tune. liner notes follow, click for more.

the tracks/liner notes

The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me performed by Tom Waits from Bone Machine
Most all of Tom Waits music creates a very strong mood, this one is no exception and exploits my personal fear of the ocean at night.

Long Gone Daddy performed by The The from Hanky Panky
I always felt there was a very dark and evil side to the music of Hank Williams, Matt Johnson obviously thought so too. Hanky Panky is a lesser known The The album made completely of Hank Williams covers. I hesitate to call them covers, each song is an interpretation.

Love Your Enemies performed by William S. Burroughs from Dead City Radio
Ok, so it is not a song but how can you ignore a gay, drug addicted, poet, murderer. This reading gives me the hebbie-jeebies.

Excellent Birds performed by Laurie Anderson from Mister Heartbreak
Peter Gabriel pitches in here to ensure the piece is more song than performance art. I think he gives Laurie Anderson a more accessible focus and direction is this song.

The Rhythm of the Heat performed by Peter Gabriel from Security
Another hypnotic piece. This was the first CD I ever bought. I bought it because it was a full digital recording.

Underwater performed by Bop (Harvey) from Gitche Gumee To Me
An odd song for Bop (Harvey), a little outside the ska/reggae/world beat sound they were known for, God I miss this band.

I Might Be Wrong performed by Radiohead from Amnesiac
When I finally gave in to the hype that is Radiohead, Amnesiac was my first Radiohead purchase. It has grown on me like a cancer and I now see the brilliance that is Radiohead.

Thela Hun Ginjeet performed by King Crimson from The Compact King Crimson
This song blows me away everytime I hear it, in my opinion this is the best mix of Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp. Belew’s guitar is all over the place while Fripp’s guitar keeps the train rollin’ full speed ahead. The main riff is hypnotic. Also take note of the manic percussion.

Dub Fire performed by Aswad from Crucial Tracks
Aswad often seems to perfect and over produced, but this instrumental seems to benefit from it. It sounds like a song you have heard before, but perhaps never have.

Change performed by Fishbone from Truth and Soul
I have seen Fishbone live several times, I am always amazed how this song would make the mosh pit and skank dancers stand very quietly and slightly swaying.

Birds performed by Adrian Belew from Inner Revolution
Why has Adrian Belew never become mega famous? Too poppy? Too experimental? Too happy?

Earth to Doris performed by Was (Not Was) from What Up, Dog?
Every time I hear this I feel like I need to take a shower, I feel so sleazy. I need to wash Doris off of me.

J.B. Witchdance performed by Masters of Reality from Sunrise on the Sufferbus
The Sufferbus was a flash in the pan for the Masters of Reality. Never before or again did they deliver an album like this. Quirky, varied, playful, some times rocking and always brilliant.

Kiko and the Lavender Moon performed by Los Lobos from Kiko
Kiko is the strongest Los Lobos albums, this song is a sneak preview of more experimental stuff that would eventually be done under the Latin Playboys name.

Manifold De Amour performed by Latin Playboys from Latin Playboys
Latin Playboys are hit or miss with me, but when they hit, it doesn’t get any better.

Good Comrades Go to Heaven performed by Solex from Low Kick and Hard Bop
Solex sounds very different than anything I have heard but each of the individual sounds used to build her sound seem very familiar. Sort of a DejaVue vibe about it.

Summer’s Cauldron performed by XTC from Skylarking
A strong thread of continuity runs through this album, each song perfectly links to the next. A characteristic common to most all XTC albums. Oddly the hit single Dear God is the one song that least fits this album. This song captures the mood of summer like no other to me.

Sky King performed by Danny Gatton from Crusin’ Deuces
Gatton’s Guitar was slick, and he could play any style. You might recognize this song from a credit card commercial. Danny Gatton was finally getting noticed, then he died. A potential that sadly will never be fully recognized.

A word about music swapping. I am of the probably unpopular belief that music swapping is a form of theft. So, why participate in this swap? I am also of the belief that music swapping, if done right, can encourage the purchase of music that one may have never been exposed to previously. No music in this compilation is less than a year old, philosophy being that there is nothing here you have not already purchased or were planning on purchasing before listening to this disc. Most musicians do not make as much money as you may think, if you like something here, I encourage you to purchase it.

the weather is not controlled by air masses, ozone, the earth's motions or any of that stuff.

it is controlled by what clothes you put on in the morning. the weather watches us and just goes with whatever most people are dressed for.

i can prove this if we all agree to wear swimsuits tomorrow. don't be the one that messes up the experiment by wearing a winter parka.

saturday the y-guide nation had the annual derby event. above, son one holds the derby car judged to be 2nd (from over 150 entries) in the "done by child" category. the purpose of the category is to recognize kids that were actually involved the creation of their car.

unfortunately, the spirit of competition racing drives most fathers to over design, build and paint the vehicles while the son watches television. many show up on race day with a derby tackle box containing tools for performance tweaking on the fly, both graphite and liquid lubrication for the axles, and supplemental weights to meet but not exceed the weight limits. it is sort of sad the father-son co-opperation element is lost.

all that being said, i put a lot of work into that car to ONLY win SECOND in the "done by child" category! i am going to hunt down the little bastard that won first place and smash his ugly little car. no, wait, slow down... i know that is wrong. correction, WE will hunt down the little bastard together! it is an opportunity for a quality bonding experience for both my son and i.

from the back seat, the boys complained about the traffic jam on the parking lot known as 636. the previous day the boys had watched chitty chitty bang bang.

my wife turned to the boys and said "i bet you guys wished this car could fly like shitty shitty bang bang."

oops.

i don't think the kids caught the slip, but i now fear getting a note from the kindergarten music teacher if they ever sing that stupid song.

she told me the toilet in the master bath was making a dripping and gurgling noise and that she wanted me to take a look at it.

i went into the bathroom, sat down and listened for the noises.

ten minutes later, i told her "well, it seems to be working ok now, i put a new turd in the bowl, that seemed to do the trick."

i think she is lucky to have someone as handy as i around the house.

due to an email snafu (user error), i have been without email for the last 24 hours. it is all better now, so if you got an invalid address notification or nothing at all from me, try it again.

in other words, you may resume the porn email ring, i am back in the game.

remember those brief two weeks of internet history when we were all millionaires and played foosball 10 hours a day? i just ran across the old desktop image i was using then.

the table is gone, the opponents no longer employeed here, but i am still the table soccer king.

it is interesting how people believe things not because they are true, but because they so desperately want them to be true, logic is abandoned.

it is hard to recognize in yourself what truths you believe that have never been logically examined. it is much easier to lead a life of naiveness (i could have swore "naivety" was a word, is it not?!).

a few things i still believe to be true only because i so badly want them to be true.

- never cleaning my coffee mug is ok as long as i don't use sugar or cream.
- baking soda whitens my teeth.
- the 7 second floor food theory.
- i am above average in everything.
- the stripper really thinks i am hot.
- my real mother and father are the rulers of an island in the south pacific. they are wealthy beyond imagination and will soon invite me to live with them and make me brigadier general of their army of flying monkeys.

here is my plan to get rich, don't tell that guy next to you, this is just between you and i.

you know those dollar stores? the ones where everything in the store costs a dollar. people love those stores.

well, i'm going to open a million dollar store, every thing inside will cost a million dollars. all i have to do is sell one thing and i am a millionaire, set for life.

some one of a kind objects i might stock would be solid gold oven mitts, elephant man bones, oversized furniture made from the bones of white tigers, televisions with real little people inside acting out shows, and omeletts made from fabrege eggs.

i must remember to call my dad to find out how his "project" is going.

he told me he is planning a metamorphosis. tomorrow he will be wearing his shoes a half size too big. the following day his tie might be an eighth of an inch wider. the day after that, the fringe hair that surrounds his freakishly large head might be teased up just slightly, and the changes will continue.

he claims the success of his metamorphosis hinges upon patience. the individual changes (each so small and incremental) will go un-noticed, but collectively and over time his appearance will change drastically. if timed correctly, the metamorphis will be complete the day he retires. the last day of his working life, he will have blossomed into circus clown. the whole nine yards, big floppy shoes, an extra wide polka dot tie, bright suspenders holding up a pair of hoop waisted pants ending just below his knee caps. i think you get the picture.

i asked him why. he claims he is interested in the sociological response. he has worked at the same office with the same people for over 30 years. many of the people are his best friends and know him better than anyone. he wonders who will be the first to notice. who will be the first to confront him and call him out? will some of the younger employees in the office silently follow his lead thinking it a wise career move? will more and more people car pool with him in a vw beetle? will some one stock the snack vending machines with exploding peanut cans and the office supply cabinet with those gigantic novelty pencils?

i don't buy his sudden interest in sociology and human response behavior. i think there is a secret, maybe even subconscious agenda.

my dad has been fascinated and mesmerized by dancing russian bears his entire life. if russian bears appeared on television, he would gather the family and force us to watch as they balanced on large colorful balls, or lumbered upright in a conga line. we never saw the magic my dad did. we would just sit and watch him watch the bears.

i am certain operation bozo is the first step in a master plan to leave my mother, join a traveling circus and work with the dancing russian bears. i would warn my mother, but i think she may have a plan of her own. i noticed her hair has been geting shorter and she has been drinking tang. are there any shuttle launches scheduled in 2008?

the management here at ultramicroscopic asks you to note that the "look over there" section has finally been updated (to your right).

also note the debut of a new category "ultrahumor". sort of a "best of" but the pickens were slim. some how potty humor is a big player in "ultrahumour", go figure.

one should never read their past posts, half way through reviewing old stuff for the new category, i almost created another new category call "ultrasux". it's kind of like looking at pictures from your prom. how i ever thought that tux was cool i will never know, but i did at the time.

i'm looking for some feedback from the designers out there.

in the days of old, upon completion of a project, a very detailed style guide would be written for the client. the style guide would contain information about the details of design (fonts, font sizes, leading, pms/rgb colors, etc.). the style guide is used as a reference for future maintenance.

as technology changes, so does process. in today's digital world i am beginning to believe detailed style guides are not necessary. the digital files now store much of that information inside the document. css dictate and document many style guide issues. i rarely consult clients style guides, i simply edit the raw file that has the information built in. i may consult brand books or higher level conceptual documentation, but rarely style guides. i also fear other designers work as i do and if they make style changes they probably never return to the formal style guide update it.

so, do you still consider style guides a deliverable? are they different than they were 5 years ago? how do you not explain not delivering a style guide to a client that expects one? do you charge extra for a style guide?

on occasion i tune in the hip hop happening station here. i think it is important to monitor the youth of today and listen for signs of the coming revolution. it is also important if i some how find myself on a dance floor and i need to "get my freak on".

the other day, the dj was broadcasting remotely from a new gas/convenience store. it is hard for me to understand the language of youth, but from what i could decipher, he was seducing the youthful listeners with offers of low prices and opportunities for them to give "shout outs" over the air.

he claimed "they got dr.pepper out da BUTT!". this is not something i would say to generate customers, and i have several concerns about this claim.

1. da butt is normally reserved for solid waste. this man he describes may have some pipes crossed.
2. i am curious how dr. pepper is being distributed via da butt. is the man defecating 12oz. cans or is there a fountain tap attached? for his sake i hope it is not 2 liter bottles.
3. the youth has an unhealthy fixation on da butt. are low rider jeans, ass tattoos and j-lo not enough?
4. i have no desire to drink dr. pepper from some one's ass. if this is a selling point, today's youth is much more misguided than television shows like the 5th wheel, and extreme dating had led me to believe.
5. once one has procured dr. pepper from da butt, who's responsibility is it to wipe?
6. i prefer mr. pibb over dr. pepper. which orifice should i hold my cup under?

blogs have exploded this year! a couple recent events have solidified few thoughts i have had about bloging or whatever we want to call this form of personal publishing.

content is king

yesterday, i stumbled across an announcement for the 2003 bloggies. when reading the rules, i was disappointed to read the following,

for this contest, a "weblog" is a page with dated entries that has a purpose (in whole or in part) of linking to other sites.

defining a weblog is hard to do, but to specify linking as a base criteria excludes some fantastic independent content creators using a blog format (loobylu, dooce, poofle, mecawilson, dollarshort, etc. - some of which are past nominees or winners).

listing links should not be confused as content. ultimately those links lead to content. i think the creator of the content should be recognized before the linker. recognizing the linker rather than the content creator only encourages mediocrity.

the development of independent content is the essence of the web.

linking is a technology differentiator that sets the web apart from all other media.

i choose not to link on my site for several reasons, the first being many sites do it very well, way better than I ever could. a few rise above simple linking by composing well thought commentary on the links or ensuring there is some thread of continuity in what links are presented (sixdifferentways, boingboing).

when someone takes a tool or an object and uses it in a way never thought of before it excites me. when instead of writing on a piece of paper, some one make a paper airplane out of it. why do we not see more people exploiting the differences of the web and bloging tools to create some thing a little different than those that have gone before them?

please do not interpret my ramblings as an attack on the bloggies. they are welcome to do what ever they see fit, if i was really upset i would start my own damn award (hmm....). i think the defining of "weblog" stirred up a few thoughts that have been on the back burner.

making connections

a friend found out about my blog recently. he had been reading it for some and asked if it was ok to post comments on the site. the question surprised me, it seemed silly. if it is published, and the comment feature is turned on, all are welcome (and encouraged) to comment.

i guess it might be intimidating when opening the comment box to see a conversation in progress or sometimes an inside comment may seem exclusionary. i think being exclusionary is the last thing most bloggers would ever want.

participating is what the site is all about, making connections with others sharing a similar experiences, opinions, or emotions. so, for any lurkers out there, the next time you see something somewhere that makes a connection, it is time to step from the shadows.

for several weeks now i have been bombarding you with subliminal messaging. it doesn't seem to be having any affect.

perhaps hypnosis will work.