Of the list of books I had purchased in the last posting, I decided that I would begin reading Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I am incredibly surprised with this book. I don't want to discuss the contents of this book until at least, I am finished reading -- but in all honesty, I don't want to discuss it since I don't want to spoil it for you. All I will tell you is that each chapter is profound. It is changing the way I think, and the way I feel about myself. The author explained to me (in so many words) exactly why I am unhappy working; I am capable of so much more. The book has got me thinking that I am actually a Philosopher, and not a Scientist. Perhaps I'm going to have to major in Philosophy when (and if) I return to University. I should just quit worrying about my bills and go for broke, literally. Now that has got to be one of the craziest things I have said in these entries.
On a completely unrelated subject, I have spent a considerable amount of time viewing other people's blogs. The reason for this is not that I am a voyeur per se, but it is because I am looking for layout and content ideas that would make my weblog a little more unique, and a little less like a generic Blogger template.
I am having a difficult time finding content and features that I would consider desirable. There are so much useless bits of code that I can't see myself posting it on this page. For example, those little plug-ins that tell what the weather is like in a place like Timbuktu. "You got a window? Open it." Perhaps the simple interface is the way to go. Apologies, as I am off my intended topic, again.
As I was trying to explain, is I was reading other peoples' blogs, and I have found myself utterly bored or appalled by their content. I would like to bring a few things to attention:
1. Do not go into detail about your last date with so-and-so. Please spare me the gory details. And I don't want to know where on his body you found a mole that was shaped like a little strawberry.
2. Please do not give me a chronological dissertation on what you did that day. I am not the least bit interested if you put your makeup on first, then brushed your teeth, or vice versa.
3. If you are going to use a lot of color in your blog, make sure we can read it. I have seen too many blogs where text was unreadable because the text color matched the background.
4. In addition to (3) above, compress your images. I can't stand waiting a half an hour on my broadband connection for your digital camera photos to upload. Also, crop your images so they are easily viewed. I really hate going to a webpage where there is a photo that measures 11 x 17, and it's loading at 600 dpi.
5. Speak English! It seems to me that there is a new dialect that is becoming popular amongst young web geeks. Let me give credit to George Orwell by calling it NewSpeak. There is next to no punctuation, capitals are in the wrong place to put emphasis on certain vowels, and no word is longer than three or four letters. For example:
"chz wuz bEn sch an ass 2 me b4 U gt hEr"
You get the picture. I have no idea that they are saying. Are they writing phonetically? Is this some sort of shorthand? It takes me longer to write in this quasi-language because I have to think of the semantics of where to put capitals to properly dictate the pronunciation to a potential reader. Are they trying to write in a code that only they and their friends understand? If you don't want your blog to be read, keep an offline journal, or turn on the privacy options. And I thought the Internet and activities such as writing blogs would be more conducive to promote literacy and good writing skills in young people. I guess I was dead wrong. How can anyone communicate effectively by writing in such a way?
"You're semi-English. You are quasi-English. You are the Diet Coke of English. Just one calorie; Not English enough."
There are countless young people from many overseas countries whom are writing weblogs as part of their English classes. Their writing is better than most North American kids of the same age group! That's it... I'm moving overseas. Time for Ramen Noodles and Karaoke.
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