The Blogger of the Narcissus

WTF. So I was gonna hit up the ATT store with my old man this evening to transfer my cell phone service to my own plan, as well as pick up a new phone while I'm there. My current model has been a P-O-S since day one, despite how cool I thought it was at the time. Of course when I arrive at the store, my dad has his signature disapproving look strapped on nice and snug. Turns out their "system" is "down" and they haven't been able to do much of "anything" all day. Which begs the question, what the hell were they doing with the store open all day to begin with? That shit is weaksauce.

This also begs another question: Why do you care? Or perhaps more appropriately, why do I think you care? It's because aside from masturbation, there is no more self-centered act than blogging. I believe that what happens to me and what I think about it actually matter to people. And the anonymity of the internets implies that I believe there are random people out there who don't know me but really should. Thank God I'm here to give them what they don't know they want. This is what confused me about blogs when I first heard about them, way back in the summer of '04.

One of the girls I interned with in the Office of Admission at the U. of Richmond was telling us that she would blog about her roommate issues. Of course, she had a link to her stupid little blog in her AIM profile. (Do kids even use AIM and its profile feature anymore?) Anyway, I said, "Obviously, your roommate can just click on your blog when she's going through AIM profiles and see that you're not-so-anonymously talking smack about her. Why don't you just talk to her face to face?" I didn't pay attention to her answer because, as it turns out, there really was no one out there who wanted to listen to what she had to say, and my impression of these "web-logs" was forever cast.

By "forever," I mean about four years. I think part of my interest stems from my eventual forsaking of the mainstream media and adoption of the Netroots as one of my primary sources of information. Corporate media have no incentive to present the facts as they are. Example: If the unwashed masses believe that the presidential election isn't even close at this point in the race, why should they watch the news? In order to keep viewership up, there is too much incentive to fabricate a narrative that suggests that the race is in fact a close one. This will keep asses in seats and eyes glued to the TV sets. This is only one example of the many failures of the mainstream media market.

Back to blogs, though. I'm obviously not in the business of debunking media myths and dispensing truth from my electronic soapbox, unless you believe in the truths of manginas, pounding nerds, and Crossfit.

If you do, welcome, brother/sister, you have a home here.

For me, I like the idea, even if it is only an idea, that there is an audience for my thoughts. For example, look at the iPod game I just posted. I enjoy sharing aspects of my life with others, even if the others really only exist in my own mind. This shouldn't be seen as contradictory to my distaste for cell phones/cell phone culture, though. Cell phones allow anyone to drop in on your life at any given moment. There is no sense of control there. With this space, I can control what is shared, how much is shared, and how often.

In that spirit, here's something I think is worth getting off my chest. As progressive, cosmopolitan, and well-informed as I like to think I am, I'm just as susceptible to ignorant BS as the next guy. In fact, I often wonder if I'm just another one of the unwashed masses, subject to whichever way the wind is blowing. And yes, I acknowledge that this thought betrays a certain sense of elitism. One of the key pieces of evidence I use to arrive at this conclusion is the fact that between 2003 and 2005, I dabbled in various forms of conservatism. Perhaps the pinnacle of this dalliance came in the fall semester of 2004. WARNING: This may upset you, regardless of how you know me now. It's some pretty awful stuff. The circumstances are explained in the link, so here it is...

LINK

Again, not one of my prouder moments. And yet here I am, still angry of course, only now I consider myself a leftist. Am I a slave to the grass always being greener on the other side? A decided turn in the general public opinion of things? Let's face it, it's pretty easy to call yourself a progressive these days. You're not exactly taking a courageous stand by criticizing conservatives. In this sense, I'm not exactly entitled to call myself a DFH, as I did in at least two previous posts. That would imply that I was in the opposition when the country was thirsty for A-rab blood (and oil), appalled at the idea of two men marrying, and generally disdainful of those who disagreed with the status quo. Essentially, I was the type who made DFHs what they were. Not exactly something I'm chomping at the bit to take credit for, but I like to think that I'm at least conscious of where I fit in now and how that correlates to where I've been in the past.