Tuesday, August 09, 2005

first p0st!

Welcome, my little chickadees, to my inaugural post at Another Human Being.

Here it is, mid-2005, and I'm just starting my first blog. Given that I'm both gay and Jewish, I'm quite used to being late to a party. So, I guess it's appropriate that I'm a couple of years late to this particular one. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of technophobe or neophyte: my first taste of "online" was the local BBS scene in Vancouver some 15 years ago, and I graduated to a shell account with Internet access just a few years after that. I've been posting various thoughts in various forums (message boards, newsgroups, and the Web) all that time. But the idea of keeping a running journal of my thoughts never appealed. More than anything, I couldn't be bothered to start, since I was a bit afraid I'd never keep it up. But, I've read some really great postings lately, and I've been thinking that those pepole will get to hang on to those words forever. I wonder how many opportunities I've already missed. So, today's the day to get started, and we'll see how I do.

I'm not sure exactly what kinds of things I'm going to write about; I guess we'll find out together. I work for a large, navy-coloured technology company, which has recently been encouraging its employees to blog, both internally and publicly. I just can't get at all excited about the idea of doing a blog that's purely about technology or, worse, business. So, this page probably won't be showing up at work on the Blogline any time soon. That said, being a geek is a pretty large part of who I am, so don't be too surprised if you find you have to don a propellor hat to appreciate some of my posts. Heck, even this title of this post was a reference to Slashdot (if you missed that, perhaps you should consider yourself lucky). Needless to say, this blog represents my personal thoughts only; I'm in no way speaking for my employer.

One promise to myself: keep the ranting under control. It's so easy to focus on the things that piss us off -- there's no shortage in any given day, and often there's a comical absurdity to them, which make for great stories. But I don't want you, dear reader, to think that I'm bitter or unhappy. I'm not. I'm quite possibly at the happiest point in my life so far. So, I'll try not to neglect the things that delight and amaze me.

That said, it's time for my first rant, about my BlogSpot address. Somebody already took anotherhumanbeing, and they're not even using it. Isn't that kind of rude? I mean, how much effort would it take to pick a template and throw together one post? So, now I'm stuck with the hyphens. Or maybe I'll change the name altogether at some point. The name is the title of a song by one of my favourite artists, Jann Arden. It was the first thing that popped into my head when Blogger asked me to choose a name. I guess I was thinking about how big the world is; how big the 'net is; how insignificant, and how significant, each voice is. I like it, but I'm not overly attached yet. If something better comes along, something that I don't have to hyphenate, I could easily change it at this point.

So, that's enough for one post. Once again, welcome. I hope you'll be entertained.

2 comments:

Craig J. said...

Welcome to the Great Big Blogosphere. :) I tool around on Slashdot too .. sometimes, when I post something that I just know is Insightful (mods be damned) I will post it also on my own blog. Cause hey, I'm right, damnit. I'm always right.

Anyway, best of luck with your new endeavor and have fun.

Dave said...

Thanks Craig! And thanks for leaving the first (non-spam) comment on my blog!