I HAVE ROUSED MY BLOG back into existence! Do not mind the emerald crustaceans bedazzling your skin as we break the surface, they only seek to join us in this rare event. For, risking all, I have returned from the heavily-mined heartlands of the ocean interquatik with this precious, handful of gleaming words.
Bear witness! Shimmy! Rub on it for Good Luck!
Okay, I have not roused the blog so much as simply begun, again. Sigh. Que Viva the old [personal but not so much political] blog, for the old [personal but not so much political] blog is dead. Despite all my warnings to others against such things, I invested a lot of time sneaking my words into software that populates a database on a server I had very limited control over, and I ended up locked out of it before I had a chance to export the years of content I’d filled it with.
It’s better that the universe tosses out some boxes of my stuff once in a while. I get too attached. But man! There were some good posts in there that really chronicled the time period I was living. I’ll admit, I’m angry about the lousy way things were handled. I just know there is no possible resolution at this point, so it’s best to let it go. And start again.
I’ve kept blogs online since 1999–if we’re counting LiveJournal. If we’re not, then I’ve been doing this thing since 2003. Back when WordPress was first released, and MovableType wasn’t trying to get rich by dedicating all support to tech companies paying stupid amounts of cash. I think the name of my first public blog was Lookingglass, and my private blog was named Sanctuarium. Anyone remember those days? Wow.
And I guess I don’t have to tell most of you what The Unapologetic Mexican was about, the name is kind of self explanatory. And that lil “Revolutionaries’ Rag” racked up quite a reputation in its ten year run. Did me proud. I used to joke, back in the day, that my contribution to the Internet would be sparking people all over to finally memorize how to spell the word “Unapologetic.” And to this day, every time I see “Unapologetic” used in terms of Brown people or immigration activism, I smile ever so slightly.
This blog is much humbler. It only smiles when you’re looking. It brings no brass ensemble, nor secret location, nor any bone to pick, or otherwise questionably-grand purpose. I just missed writing. I had a couple blogs up I’d use to write fiction and personal thoughts, but I’ve had to let a few domains go, as the recurring hosting charges were getting hard to justify. It wasn’t long before I got that urge to write again, and realized that of all the blogs I’ve made and designed (on just my own servers), I didn’t have even one functioning, anymore. So, I set about to fix that. AND THE REST IS HISTORY
After all, Facebook and Twitter are no way to scratch a writer’s itch. Ugh. If they ever were, they sure aren’t now. In fact, I think I end up on social media sites too often because I want to write, and those seem an easy way. But the constraints and atmosphere on social media sites are about as healthy for a writing jonez as the skinny poison hot dogs spinning around in the 7-11 heater at 3 a.m. are for your tum-tum. It’s too damn loud, we move too fast, everyone is clever, everyone knows better, and man…it’s just too damn loud! And I actually don’t want to write and think about Donald Trump 24 hours a day. I really do not. But that current is moving strong on the interlynx, and I’d rather let the river have its way.
Sorry if the typeface is not fantastic, or you have to enlarge it, or in some other way it is not catering to your every whim. I have only put a small amount of time into customizing it. Sometimes, for a moment, the dark interface feels too cloistered, but then, the white page is unquestionably vulgar in how it glares at me. Relentlessly.
Give it a week or two. I’ll figure out what’s up. In the end, as Linkin Park famously said, people will just sling it into their browser’s Reader view and strip it of all styling, anyway. Meanwhile, I’m banging out this post mostly as a way to test the entire process: the installation, the directory protection (removed), the going live, the sharing, the loving, the hugging, yanno. Confetti, deathbed confessions. All of it.
Jeez, I totally lost the urge to write anymore, knowing that you most likely switched on your browser’s Reader when you opened this page. I’m all at once filled with contempt for your selfish habits. I’m trying to forgive you, but they are crowding out every pleasant thought in my head. Why, after all, should I share my innermost thoughts with such a lazy, tasteless, character? BLEH
Well. I guess I should go on, for the people who are doing their best to appreciate my half-assed attempts to mold this page into some kind of aesthetically pleasing environment. Although I don’t know how you all can be so complacent. What kinds of standards do you have, anyway? I myself, am furious that there seems to be way too much padding under an image if you use a caption, but just the right amount when you don’t.
You noticed that too, hadn’t you? No, of course you hadn’t. Philistine! DO YOU EVEN KERN, BRO????
Okay…. Maybe this blog isn’t so humble.
Anyway! Testing, testing, here we go!
Since writing this post, I have smoothed out most of these design burrs. But it’s still fun to read myself complaining.