The Short Essay

Evolution isn't only for the birds. Artforms also come and go, develop, mutate, expand, reach dead ends, or evolve into something new.

The short essay. I think that means spelling out an opinion, or writing about something as if you know what you're talking about. Do we really know? Maybe. Maybe not.

Once upon a time, cuneaform writing evolved, apparently to keep records of how much grain was stored, then perhaps adapted to sending messages. Generally this would involve land, money, or women, most likely. At the time, hired guns called scribes were the only ones who could either read it, or inscribe it.

But with the invention of moveable type, things changed.

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What is a Weblog?

Dave Winer sez:

"Consider the sequence of developments in publishing:

"In the 70's, to run a publication, you needed a million-dollar printing plant, or you needed to lease time on one, to print and distribute your publication.

"In the 80's, with the advent of laser printers, GUIs and desktop publishing software, the cost dropped to $100,000. So more people could publish.

"In the 90's, publishing technology took off in a new way, all-electronic, and the cost dropped to a few thousand dollars.

"Enter weblogs, and the cost drops to hundreds of dollars, maybe even tens. If you want to do a publication, all you need is the time to write, and an idea to write about. The number of publications goes up every time the rules are rewritten. Now, factor out the non-publication oriented websites. Those are not weblogs. Everything else is."

Polishing Jewels

The practice of bloggistry changes the mind.

This April, just experimenting, I started a kind of tech diary. On blank days, it seemed natural to think about some 'Looky Back' days from the past. Over the weeks, I wrote several of these. These stories were so short that I called them 'micro-stories'. Or, when posting an opinion -- like this one -- a 'micro-essay'.

One day, I noticed that these micro-stories and micro-essays are the real deal. In comparison, the tech notes are bland and uninteresting. I began writing more micro-stories, and replaced most of the tech notes.

I discoverd that writing micro-stories changes the mind. Writing them brings up jewels, moments of the past to burnish, shining again, no longer lost. A treasure chest.

They say that it steam-engines at steam-engine time. I suppose bloggistry has now appeared in our world because its time has come. I suppose that the "autoblography" is a natural expression of bloggistry. Evolution is a funny thing -- invisible before, inevitable after.

I for one am grateful.

Composition

Lyon Street, San Francisco, 1987: I loved the synthesizer, and found it easy to read the manuals, to fiddle with the sounds.

Playing the keyboard was something else.

I took two lessons, to learn how to move my hands on the fretboard. I began learning to read, but it was slow.

Then I happily discovered that composition is easy.

First, chords. Staying in the key of C, you just play all the white keys. If you play four notes, skipping every other white key, you get some kind of a seventh chord. If your lowest note is on the C or F note then you'll get a major chord, which sounds very rich. If your lowest note is on the D, E, or A note you'll get a minor chord which sounds haunted. If your lowest note is on the G or B note, you get a real sour chord.

So, for starters, you just plunk around with these seven chords, and find a series of them that sounds good. This is pretty simple. The next step is even easier.

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