01/26/2006: "Transitions"

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it's been a little while. Part of that is due to our impending move down to San Diego, and the tortures of apartment hunting (seriously, I think just about every landlord assumes that if you're from out of town, you're moving in solely for the purpose of building a meth lab. actually, one lady was so rude I was considering calling her back in various fake voices and asking her if the neighborhood would be a good place to put in a crackhouse).

Another part of my lack of posting has been the thought that maybe I need to pull back a little and try to refine the blog's focus a little more. I originally started this page with the intention that it would be comprised of creative, interesting, and insightful posts on whatever subjects were capturing my attention at the time (I was really trying the first few entries... I mean don't go back and read them or anything, but I was), but it's basically devolved into the occasional chore of posting some complaint or other every couple weeks or month. And while I'm sure the random, frequently depressed ramblings of a bored 20-something living in the middle of nowhere are interesting to some people, I think most of the "blogosphere" (or at least most of MySpace) is already dedicated to that sort of thing. Usually written by people who post a whole lot more than I do.

The problem is, I haven't really come up with a focus that I think I could keep up with. I often have fun with my comic book posts, but there are literally tons of better comics blogs out there than anything I could come up with. I'd likewise be in over my head on music posts, anime posts, manga posts (and really, could much be more annoying than a blog about anime or manga?), etc. Perhaps my recent rediscovery of the fact that I love old japanese role-playing games might make for good reading? Perhaps, but does anyone care? These are the problems which currently plague me. I'm vaguely considering posting on all of the above, going for a sort of pop culture explosion kinda thing, but I think I need to put more thought into that as well.

Needless to say, both I and the blog are currently in a state of flux. I'm going to try to fix the comments thing, so if I still have any readers at this point, and anyone has any ideas of where the blog should go, post away.

Replies: 11 Comments

Well, looks like I got the comments section working.
I've only been meaning to do that for that past six months...

[Matt] on Thursday, January 26th

The blog should go... in the direction of south asian cuisine.

[Zac] on Thursday, January 26th

mmm...South Asian Cuisine. I made Thai spring rolls for dinner. Does that count towards going in a South Asian Cuisinish direction?

[Lynnea] on Thursday, January 26th

I'd say Thai is in a weird place between South Asian and South-East Asian. There are the coconut-milk curries, which tend towards the Indian/Pakistani tradition, but then the spring rolls, papaya salad, etc., have so much more in common with the cuisine of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and even south China. Of course, the whole region really has so much more ethnic flux than we realize as westerners. Many Vietnamese are actually former Chinese immigrants...

[Zac] on Friday, January 27th

Post pictures and stories about cute bat paraphernalia. Yes, the site would be disturbing. People would assume you're a fiftyish autistic savant in an institution. But every so often 5c11 would be pointed out as "this crazy site you need to see", which is all a blog can hope for.

[Matt V] on Friday, January 27th

Here's a focus: a blog which is active...

[Zac] on Monday, February 6th

Perhaps if you ventured out of the house more you would encounter the types of colorful characters blogs were invented to be written and posted about. For example, the half-blind homeless elderly black man that shared a rice crispie treat with my friend Kat in front of House of Blues the other night...But of course that would involve, you know, leaving the house.

[mary] on Wednesday, February 8th

Hrmm. Hopefully after the move things will pick up here. San Diego should provide some more stimuli than Ashland...

[Zac] on Tuesday, February 14th

How about just posting regularly, and letting a focus emerge organically?

[Zac] on Wednesday, February 22nd

So, um, you got internet at home yet?

[Zac] on Sunday, February 26th

At least post another entry for people to comment on. It's been more than a month. Post about moving. Anything...

[Zac] on Wednesday, March 1st