I want those pictures, dammit.
I actually put some effort forth this morning between my card-playing rules tornado of daymares, my philosophy homework, and actual work to track down the web site of my roommate from college.
He posts in comments here now and then. I remembered in one of these posts that he mentions a blog, which I had fully intended to search out and read through, provided there was more than a couple of pages of content. After all, he was always... prolific? I dare not say interesting, because (whether I believe he was or not) it's the subject of this post.
Reading an entry of his, I began a tour through LiveJournal, looking for names and places, trying to verify the names of people I've known in real life. It's tricky business, with all the people hiding behind pseudonyms out here on the internet. I suppose that this is a topic for a different discussion, but (noting here) notice that this is not my practice, and I'm pretty easily found on the "world wide web".
So I began a task of matching people I might have known to things for which that they have professed a like or dislike. This is much more difficult than it sounds, especially since these people have probably changed significantly over the past ten years.
The things that people include in their profiles is interesting, and it has brought me to certain conclusions. For example, I could tell you that I like the author Joan D. Vinge. But you don't know that author (or if you do, you're some kind of weirdo), then you wouldn't be able to relate. So what should you do?
Well, it seems that people have taken to adding stereotypical authors and movies to their profiles so that others can relate to them more generally. I think this probably leads to a less exact picture of who a person is, or what they really like.
For example, a profile lists Oscar Wilde and Kurt Vonnegut as favorite authors. Well, aside from the very surreal incident last night in Granite Run (involving several groups of teenagers visiting the literature section of Waldenbooks and pointing out their favorite books!) what sane person reads literature for fun? Ok, I'm generalizing, but you see my meaning in that you need a common reference, and if you're so esoteric then you won't have any common ground.
For giggles regarding classic literature, check out how popular Neal Stephenson is with the DiaryLand crowd, compared to Oscar Wilde and Kurt Vonnegut.
Strangely, it seems that music marches to a different drummer. It seems you'll have a smattering of esoteric bands, or top40/teener-pop. Occasionally you'll find a band thrown in to make a person looked more seasoned. Ocasionally, you'll find a list of favories make up entirely of respected bands, and you'll wonder whether the user is in the music industry or is just posturing based on what he's read.
Maybe this topic deserves a much longer written essay, but I'm in a hurry to get it online for reasons that may become clear later as my server starts to feel some additional load.
But for the record...
A sample of bands of whom I own more than one album (which is not to say that I'm proud to announce any of these names, as much as expose myself to potential ridicule):
- Tangerine Dream
- Matthew Sweet
- Dada
- Cake
- Guster
- Radiohead
- Tori Amos
- Toad the Wet Sprocket
- Live
Note that there are no punk or country bands listed, unfortunately.
A sample of authors of whom I own more than one book:
- Neal Stephenson
- William Gibson
- Neal Gaiman
- Lisa Smedman
- Dr. Seuss
- Bruce Baugh
- Mark Twain
- Chuck Palahniuk
A sample of movie directors of whose movies I own more than one copy:
- David Fincher
- Darren Aronofsky
- Guy Ritchie
- Tim Burton
- Stanley Kubrick
- Alfred Hitchcock
- James Cameron
See how these names resonate for you while I find some more school acquaintences to resonate for me.
