Let's Give This Thing a Whirl

Welcome to “Been Some Places, Seen Some Things.”

I trust you had a safe trip?

This is my fourth blog and, although it has the freedom to go just about anywhere, it does have at least an initial purpose; try out Blogger Beta to see if I want to risk transferring my other three blogs over to this new format. This blog, therefore, is something of a scout. It is sacrificial, for the time being, and it is nimble enough to navigate uncharted parsecs of cyberspace for the common good. It is a virtual warrior.

I have not yet decided whether to link this site from my others. However, I will link them from here. Right now, as a matter of fact.

“The 25 Year Plan” – And its inaugural entry:

I have been resisting this blog thing. I have a few ideas why, perhaps, but I have reconciled that I probably should just stop resisting. It is patently apparent that this is not just another passing fad. Moreover, as an aspiring writer/journalist, it would behoove me to exploit any technology that will advance my career and expose my thoughts to more than just a select few. I must admit that making my musings publicly available is somewhat intimidating, but what the hey…

I am not one to jump on the bandwagon. I have been primarily a follower and not a leader. I generally don’t like commitment and prefer to wait and see. Unless of course, it is a thing that is already in my realm of experience; that requires little or no effort to be “accomplished;” that has immediate and considerable dividends; that boosts my self-esteem; you know – that I’m good at. In my assessment, blogging posed too much risk.

To be fair, it is not the technological platform that intimidates me. Indeed, I have been into computers and networking not since the beginning, but very early on. Therefore, I have a great deal of knowledge – expert knowledge – of the inner workings of computers, their hardware, protocols and the like. Unfortunately, I somehow missed the boat that became known as the World Wide Web.

Without going into a lot of unnecessary (but interesting) details, a series of events in my life combined with (or exacerbated by) choices I made took me away from the computer industry just as the Internet really took off. I had limited my involvement to that of tinkering with hardware that was turning obsolete overnight and immersion into the endless diversions that the web offered. By the time I had come up for air, the dust was already settling. What I knew that was of value was next to worthless. I had become an end-user.

By the time I had re-entered school (another equally interesting series of events…but I’ll save these adventures for future entries), my prior life in the high technology world was of little value. However, I had apparently picked up some skill in assembling words and punctuation in a way that made some sense. I guess I always kinda-sorta knew, but now there was external and professional validation. Cool, right? I mean how much, other than word processing, could writing be affected by technology.

Well, if your reading this, then you already know. Still, I resisted for a couple of years. Why?? FEAR! That’s why! Toss in liberally some procrastination and you get a writer that can write AND has the technical knowledge, experience and the ability to learn how to create and maintain a blog AND the knowledge that doing so has evolved into a “turn-key” endeavor AND the intelligence to know that blogs and other forms of on-line journalism and writing are the wave of the future AND that he better get used to it AND YET, he waits until almost 2006. Whew!

But it’s never too late. So here it is for you to read, comment on (or not), and enjoy. Better late than never.

“Overflow” – And it’s introduction on The 25 Year Plan:

Last Sunday, a new blog was born. It made its appearance amid no fanfare, no pomp and no circumstance. No announcements were sent and it entered the blogosphere almost unnoticed. Almost. Now there is a link on my sidebar, but two of those who frequent this space regularly found it before any convenient access had even been established. Its name is “Overflow” and for the immediate future at least, that is exactly what it contains.

On Friday night, I started a project that was equal parts tribute, appreciation and promotion. It was far more work than I ever envisioned but worth every minute. Except for repairing typos and fixing links, it was written in one sitting. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to recognize those who had recognized me and I wanted the post to enjoy prominence on my blog for at least a couple of days. Early Sunday morning, that plan was in jeopardy of failing.

I woke up early with my mind going a million miles per hour. My head was just chewing on it… I needed some relief. I was not all that thrilled to be up so early on a Sunday morning. Alas, I had to put something – anything - into print. I was soon to discover that it would not be enough. Oh, I got something down all right… some pretty darned good stuff too, but my tolerance has grown since entering the blogosphere. Just seeing the thoughts in print was not doing it anymore – I had to publish it!

Here in lies the problem: I didn’t want to burry my tribute post behind 600 words of Sunday morning revelations. Ok, fine – just save it in draft form for a day or two, no problem. There are two problems with that plan: First is that it was day-of-the-week specific. In other words, it really had to be posted on a Sunday morning. Second, there would always be something more current to concentrate on. The chances of the post never getting published were very good. This was a dilemma that begged for a solution.

I have toyed with the idea of introducing a second blog from time to time. I thought it could be a different format or “side” of me and I thought about just making it “The 25 Year Plan II.” At the moment, it is the latter. Overflow is a place to put stuff that comes at times when I may not necessarily be ready for it. I can call upon the creative process pretty much on demand, but it also has a way demanding attention on its own, often at the most inconvenient times. Overflow gives me a place to put these posts instead of overloading just one blog with too many posts.

For now Overflow is just a “plane Jane” blog. With nothing fancier than perhaps a hit counter for now (suggestions?), this blog will give those wanting more (you poor deluded souls!) a place to get it and me a place to keep the outflow... um, flowing. Overflow will be the subordinate member of the family for the foreseeable future, but who knows? It could grow and evolve into a blog with just as distinct a personality as its big brother. Before long it could be blazing new trails, breaking new ground and making its name, no longer obscured by the shadow of its older sibling. It could be another of my alter egos - altered.


“This Is Fiction” – A radical new direction for me – here is its intro:

I have never considered myself to be all that creative. I can’t sing or play music; can’t draw or paint; don’t really have any artistic talent. At least that was how I used to think. Don’t get me wrong – I still don’t posses those afore mentioned talents – it’s just that I have expanded my view of what qualifies as a “talent” and what defines art. Many things, actually, pretty much everything can fall under that umbrella. Writing, therefore, can easily be a talent that can be developed into an art.

I have taken my fair share of “assessment” tests over the years. Many measured such things as right-brained/left-brained dominances, the artistic versus the logical, mechanical against intuitive and other variances of the same psychobabble. Although there is no intrinsic harm in measuring these factors, there is considerable potential for harm in how the results may be used.

Suffice it to say, I have never been labeled as “creative.” I think it is still true in some respects, but when the criteria and definitions are opened sufficiently wide enough, we all create. My talent… my art does not appeal to the visual or the auditory, but uses those senses to create or recreate the same magic as a personalized experience for each individual mind. Writing is an art form that leaves the final rendition for the reader to define and redefine at will. My freshman comp professor always used to say, “don’t tell me, show me.”

My job is to arrange simple symbols in such a way that they convey meaning. It matters not how beautifully the words flow if the meaning of the sum is lost. It has always been relatively easy for me to be clear with the precision placement of these symbols. I have a “talent” for painting a picture with words. I could not appreciate how important, how satisfying… indeed how beautiful and powerful word placement could be until relatively recently.

I have often confused creativity with fiction when it comes to writing. “Creative writing” tries to tap into resources that I don’t posses. I find it near impossible to weave a tale out of thin air, though I could re-tell one with eloquence. Then there’s “creative non-fiction,” whatever that means. If it refers to epiphany, revelation or introspection – then I don’t know if I’d call it creative. It is still the transmission of reality through the meaning conveyed by the symbols used to form words and sentences. It is what I am writing at this very moment.

I’ve said all that to get to this. I have added a new blog to my stable. It’s called “This Is Fiction” and that is exactly what it is. Everything found there didn’t really happen, not as told anyway. However, like all fiction, mine is based on real life and real events – some are my own and some are others’. Some may, in reality, contain more fact than fiction, but it is fiction all the same. I put a disclaimer in the blog’s subtitle that says as much. This is not so much to protect myself or anyone else necessarily, but to remind me.

The first entry is a cliffhanger. It leaves more unanswered than it reveals. I know what happened, but I don’t know yet what is going to happen. That is the freedom I’ll get from this page. One needs only ask disgraced “memoir” author James Frey how much better the facts can sound if only things didn’t occur that way. In fiction, I need not stick with the facts - I can create them. This is all brand new for me – we’ll see together where it goes.

So there you have it – the fearsome foursome!

Let the games begin.