MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
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MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
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Baltimore - 27 June, 1999 - My friends, acquaintances and colleagues seem to be breaking down into two groups.
One group believes that I have accomplished a lot, I am dedicated, motivated, and pulling off an heroic effort in terms of my life and publishing career.
The second group believes that I could do better and be more accomplished. They think I am shirking my (supposed) "greatness" because of my self-destructive tendencies.
I think: "Man! Isn't that a lot of weight to put on one person?
"Would you hold yourself to that standard?"
As Bonnie Raitt sang: "What is Success?"
This is the last page I compose, design, at The World's Magazine, Gentle Reader, so --- once again --- I wax philosophical.
Even as I read some of the wonderful contributions which the G-Crew sent for this issue, I was thinking about some of the conversations which produced the foregoing...
The coterie which insists that I have not embraced the "greatness" I could frustrates and angers me. I mean, who are they to say so? AND why is it that I can only be "great" on their terms? Where is that small dose of humility which might suggest that I am capable of defining what is success in Life of Rod, rather than needing (or wanting) these self-appointed arbiters of Destiny to do so for me?
I think it's pretty freaking great to meet the deadline here and maybe --- just maybe --- publish a piece by one of the 19 contributing writers that may ignite your mind or touch your soul...
That's my fervent wish.
It was my good fortune Friday week, BTW, to break the notorious G21 Curse and actually meet Adam, and his S.O. Karynn, face-to-face in our nation's capital. It was a close call, as all the Travel Gods seemed to be working overtime to frustrate the meeting and keep the curse intact, but we made it. With any luck, I'll be seeing more of Adam and Karynn --- and we might even cajole her into your seeing more of her work in these pages. Meanwhile, Adam and I also got a chance to brain-storm about potentially exciting Web projects which may roll out as part of collaboration here, too. I'll keep you posted.
OTHER ROD STUFF: No, I don't have an air conditioner yet. Fortunately, the temperature here in B'more has gotten more temperate, which should buy me a little time, though July already looms large. Still haven't assembled my desk either, but it's on this week's agenda (again.) Might even finally get my books and music in order.
Went back to NYC last week for a Day Job-related trade show. (If I didn't travel so much, you're probably thinking, I would have finished unpacking already and have my apartment together. You're right.) And this coming weekend, it's back to New York for a barbecue with my pal Larry out on the Hamptons. (No! I'm not going chi-chi! No, I can't seem to stay away from New York very long. Thank you very much.) Cut me some slack: If I'm going to develop a Social Life, I need to start recognizing the holidays that other humans celebrate. If I am more available when other people are, I'm more likely to run into more available people of the Unattached Female persuasion.
As the summer progresses, my hope is to do more of my partying locally... It's just that right now I know more people outside of B'more than in it. Not to mention, that given the choice between a party in Baltimore and one in New York, I tend to suspect the latter would be more jiggy. I'll need to get my summer fix of Sean Altman and The Muscular Band, too, which requires at least one weekend jaunt back up to SoHo's Arlene Grocery. Sue me. I guess I should invest in AmTrak.
Some more astute readers have probably noticed that I have gone to a Summer Schedule, as regards our launch dates. Rather than weekly, I've stretched things out to every ten days or so. Once the apartment is together, I've finally mastered the Aestiva HTML/OS software I mean to roll out as our next design innovation, and my travel and writing schedule get more under control, we'll bounce back to the seven-day trip...
We're glad you're here. We have a lot to offer this (and EVERY) week. Stick around. More importantly: TELL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. We want you here EVERY DAY.
WHY?
Because we like you...
Work like you don't need the money,
I'm glad to see ADAM J. SMITH back with an editorial in this week's edition. I've missed his bare-knuckled take on the scene Inside the Beltway. Speaking of the First Amendment, he has a lot to say this week about how some conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives continue to appear unclear, perhaps even ignorant, of the concept.
ABOUT THIS ISSUE: Run, don't walk to JENNIFER BLUE's meditation on summer and nudity, and all of the mytho-psychological influences surrounding those topics, in this edition's CULTURECAST "Live! Nude!" I re-read it for the third time this morning and began the day with a smile. Ditto, MATT SHARKEY's fiction submission in G21 WORDS, "Champagne." And our favorite reviewer BOB POWERS introduces you to nine titles you may want to add to your summer reading list in POWERSBOOKS! Those are only three of fifteen great new features which pack this Summer Reading Special edition. Pour yourself a tall iced tea, or a mint julip, and get ready for some great reads.
Thanks for coming back this week.
Love like you've never been hurt,
Dance like no one is watching,
Rod
Rod is a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he writes on web design and development issues every Thursday. He is principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviews technology issues five days a week. His opinions on the Info Age began appearing on MethodFive's HYPER technology newsletter in March.
When not busy with his publishing chores at this site, and answering sixty -to- one hundred e-mails a day, he likes to throw darts; seek female companionship; and listen to Tupac, Beethoven, Philip Glass, Joni Mitchell, James Carter, Eric Clapton, Snoop Dogg, Etta James, Miles Davis, Handel, Portishead, Toots & the Maytals, Bob Marley, Sinead O'Connor, techno, house, jazz....
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