Something that never ceases to amaze me is the incredible network of unsuspecting people that continues to morph and build upon itself in the blog universe. Forgive the
run-on sentence, but I think I needed to make a point. It seems that when you start browsing a blog and then connect to other blogs that the author recommends, you are essentially participating in a
run-on sentence. A run-on train of thought. A run-on frame of mind. Not that this is a bad thing. In fact, most bloggers tend to quickly and efficiently get right to the point.
In some ways the meaning of
run-on sentence has gotten a bad rap. It is considered poor taste in the world of grammar (yes, mom and dad I've been listening all these years). It is identified with someone who can't get to their point without a reasonable struggle (me for instance, in case you hadn't noticed already). I think it's high time
run-on sentence was examined as a part of the process of thinking. (Yeah, Armistead, you're gonna have a fun time explaining this one to me.) OK, ok. The idea behind the
run-on is that the words used to express an idea take awhile for the idea-maker to share. A gradual process. A slow state of change. Or as I learned this weekend from Tod Williams, "a successive flow." More about
the Virginia Design Forum V some other time.
You might of noticed I got off on a bit of a tangent there. To return to my original point, I am always surprised by the connections between bloggers and curious as to how those connections were made. Let's go for a tour, shall we...
Let's start with
Ben Domenech, a fellow W&M student. A blog watch professional. His premiere links take you to some other blog watchers (aka augustinian wonder boys).
One of these boys is
Charlie Park, a mutual friend and W&M alumnus, I grant you, but made his web presence known independently. Charlie's Pure Content just made the cut this week for Arthur Coddington's
Blog of the Day. Charlie happens to know Dan Pink, a contributor to
Fast Company.
Now Dan's site,
Just One Thing is actually what Charlie linked on his site. But watch this organic process get wilder. Turns out that Ben knows Dan too. Dan likes to read
Heath Row, Heath links to
John Ellis, author of the latest interesting read from Fast Company,
"All the News That's Fit to Blog".
Turns out Heath is a fan of Charlie's blog as well. Heath also recommends
Boing Boing, the directory of wonderful things authored by the Mark-Cory-David team (check out Mark's comic work). Boing Boing considers
Subterranean Notes one of the best blogs. Dirk Hine runs this outsiders art site.
Dirk's links page brings up some similar favorites on blogger lists, including
Dr. Menlo, who fits into a different part of this circle, including everything from
Follow Me Here to
Wood's Lot and
Ethel the Blog.
As you can see this is getting complicated. I'm sitting here trying to keep track of all these places with about ten browser windows open. This stuff works backwards too. For example, Ethel links back to Boing Boing, as do Heath, Dr. Menlo and RandomWalks (who likes Follow Me Here). Seems that the
run-on ends up sometimes being a
run-around, where instead of just taking you through the conversations, you end up seeing some of the same old favorites on everybody's page. Next stop: the run-on sentence arrives on the front page of mainstream media.
Of course, I'm not telling the full story unless I mention that I also have the music video stuck in my head. Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" starts out in her family's garage, tinkering on the piano, when she (and the piano) start to glide out the door onto the street. She comes full circle after travelling through Manhattan, the highway in New Mexico, among other places (accompanied by marching bands, motorcycle gangs, and a little owl a couple times).