The content of this message is a medium

I've never "blogged" before. i've always thought that it is kind of silly. i mean, every one and their cousin's brother has a blog. i want my voice to be heard and i think that it would get lost in a sea of blogs by doing this.


I write because it is an extension of my thoughts, like McLuhan says. by using a pen and notebook or my typewriter, i can produce a tangible outcome. reading something on a computer screen about people's intimacies doesn't do much for me. a picture of the Mona Lisa isn't the same as seeing it in real life (i know, i visited the Louve last year). a book or oil on canvas is reality, an on-line posting of the same words or represention of scenery is it's virtual counterpart.

McLuhan says we should ask of media and technology four things:

1. what does it extend?
2. what does it make obsolete?
3. what is retrieved?
4. what does it reverse if over extended?

Online blogging or journaling extends my private thoughts to a medium that i have not used before. If i put everything that i write today and write in the future in terms of this blog onto paper and photocopy it, it would be called a "zine." i haven't seen a "zine" in 10 years. They used to be popular (although i do not know much about them or their place in social history), but i think they are pretty much obsolete now. Even though it is easier to create on on-line blog than a zine, and even though it is more accessible, i think on-line journaling can reverse the arts and crafts of making collages or zines.
I think self-expression is somewhat lost by blogging. since everyone has one, how am i expressing my self in an orginal manner? if everyone has a blog, is it really self-expression or is does it become a collective consciousness i.e. an ampution of the "self"? can one see a blog for the individual or are there too many to see the singular subjectively?

To me, the written word does not translate on to screen. the computer is not like going to the movies... it is static. yes, one may add images to make the web page visually exciting, but the bombardment of images can be overwhelming to me if i spend more than a half an hour just "surfing." i usually go on the internet for a purpose - like when i go shopping, i know what i want, get it and get out. There is so much to see on the internet that to just "browse" can be intimidating. I could post a train of thought (medium) that i typed on my typewriter (medium), translate it for the web (medium) for all to see, but i would be afraid the content would be lost in this space with no beginning, middle or end.