Yesterday, my daughter was watching Teletubbies while I penned this daylog offline. I logged on to post it, only to find several vague statements here about some kind of terrorist attack. I spent yesterday making a host of frantic phone calls and writing "The First Breath of Fall," which seems to have been completely misunderstood. And now I wait to see how many funerals I may have to attend. I nevertheless post the daylog I had written, even though it now seems like so much self-congratulatory drivel. But I post it now to remember how few cares I had just twenty-four hours ago.
Today I celebrate my first anniversary on E2.
Of course, were this to appear as a holiday on a calendar somewhere, it would read, "Rook's First E2 Anniversary (Observed)." I actually signed up, at the urging of my good friend Taltos, on September 8, 2000, and poked around for a couple of days before composing my first writeup. (I highly recommend this course of action to new noders.) Said first node, a paean to RC Cola, was penned on September 10, 2000. (Drinking RC Cola is also a course of action I highly recommend.) This node was certainly not my best effort, but I keep it around as a reminder of my youthful exuberance.
"But wait," rises the cry of the reader, "today is actually the 11th of September!" Quite right, but I took a day trip with my wife and daughter yesterday, so I hope you'll forgive me for the delay.
So the disclaimers are now out of the way. So where do I stand after a year's efforts? I had hoped to reach level six by now, but I am about 58 writeups short of the mark. But that's OK: I decided that it would be better not to reach the target than to let the overall quality of my corpus slip.
"But wait," rises the cry of the reader, "aren't you rapidly gaining weight?" Quite right, but I was referring to my body of work. "Oh," says the reader, "more's the pity.".
It is hard to node well if you don't have much time to node, and while my wine reviews have been a valuable source of unrefined nodegel, it also costs me to buy the wine and adds pounds ("kilograms" to you non-Americans) to my corpus when I drink it in large quantities. I am proud to say that only two of my writeups are daylogs—had I offered up a daily dose of Rookian [daylog to the assembly, I might now be in a position to make a run for the honor and glory that is showered upon Everything's Best Users.
"But wait," rises the cry of the reader, "you're writing a daylog right now, hypocrite!" Quite right, but please don't misunderstand. Prior to 9/8/00, I regularly added to my own page of rants elsewhere on the 'net, and these were much beloved, to be charitable, by my friends and family. The idea that I could go somewhere to rant and receive feedback on my ranting was quite compelling, But upon arrival I realized that it was not enough to spew thoughts recklessly, but instead E2 called me to organize them into a coherent and above all persuasive form. I believe I have responded favorably to this stimulus, but I still recognize the need (that we all have) to spew recklessly every now and again. "Oh," notes the reader, "well, I will still downvote you." 'Tis your right, says I.
Man, this is getting long already. Perhaps I should get to the damn point already. I bought my first modem in 1993, and so I have been kicking around the virtual world for about eight years now. The fact that I have spent 12.5% of that time here is a testament to the quality of the site. I have not always been pleased with what has happened to my writeups--unfathomable downvoting is common, but mysterious deletions have thankfully been far and few between—but I have been pleased with the way in which I have been received.
"But wait," rises the cry of the reader, "isn't the phrase 'few and far between'?" Quite right, but I have always preferred this alternative formulation, which occurs in the Billy Bragg song 'The Saturday Boy.'"
So where do I go from here? It's hard to say. I am tempted to renew my quest for level six in earnest, but since the only attraction is having a picture on my homenode, and since the evidence strongly suggests that only no one ever visits my homenode, this would be a hollow victory. But I will continue to muck about for the present, contributing when I have the time or inclination; and if more levels come, then so much the better.
"But wait," rises the cry of the reader, "don't you have a point? Are you just babbling?" Quite right…and now the big finish
Oh, wait, there is no big finish. Instead I include, randomly, the lyrics to a song that I enjoy from the "Dragon Tunes" portion of the terrible PBS kids show "Dragon Tales." I find this song to be eerily well written and possessed of a virulent, er, um, "catchy," tune.
The sun is coming out, the sky is clear;
So get up from your chair and give yourself a cheer.
Instead of sittin' round and feelin' blue
Get up from your seat and doodly-doodly doo.
Do-do-do-doodly, doodly-doodly doo
Hop like a bunny hops
Rock like a rockin' chair
Spin like a spinnin' top
Dance like a dancin' bear
Do-do-do-doodly, doodly-doodly doo
Do-do-do-doodly, doodly-doodly doo