This morning was devoted to backstory.
Jill proposes fictionalizing herself, an interesting notion. So long as the "character" is consistent, who know the difference? Relationships, interconnections, events need not be real, but merely supported by circumstantial evidence - ie. other blogs (which also may or may not be fiction), news events. The surrounding props can be concrete, and still be woven together to make excellent fiction.
I added several wordherders to my blogroll: George, "Chuck and Dave. (Will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?)
Their addition to my regular reading is very recent, so I went back a little bit to see what I'd missed.
Internal processing.
On his main page, in "About", George is a professor.
Male.
(Conjure image of some bespectacled dude, mid-50s - stereotype despite the fact that I, too am a bespectacled professorial-type, but a salsa-dancing hottie).
"Being a tree-hugging, bunny-loving vegetarian, I declined the chicken and devoured two helpings of everything else."
More processing. Granola guy. Still bespectacled. Wears Birkenstocks. Somewhat unkempt. Military brat. (Me too).
George writes, "Best of all, I'll get to see my homies, Chuck and Mike."
Whoa. Use of term "homies" in regards to self, Chuck and Dave. Minus 20 years for everybody. And what's the connection between this Kansas City prof with another in Atlanta?
It's interactive non-fiction. It's fun. (George, I hope you don't mind me using you for the example, but you were my morning read).
This is what's going on in my head as I read various blogs. There are occassional visual aids. Posted images. All pieces of a larger puzzle that only approximate the real person. Not until we meet in meatspace, does the abstraction disappear.
Posted by at August 17, 2003 11:20 AM | TrackBackA little more for the narrative: George, Mike, and I all earned our masters' degrees together. That might not change our "narrative" status too much. As in a good bildungsroman (sp?), we all come from humble beginnings only to earn our PhDs and secure professor-type positions around the country.
I have the same thought processes as I encounter new blogs, imagining the blogger in RL that is providing this voice that I can't quite escape. It's strange how pictures function in securing the identity of the blogger somewhat.
Posted by: chuck at August 17, 2003 05:47 PMWhat's a bildungsroman?
More pieces to the puzzle. I'm glad you didn't give me any particulars: ages or physical descriptions. There's motivation there for me to dig into the archives.
My sister lives in Atlanta, though. So meating/meeting is not an impossibility.
addendum: "meating" as a pun looks terribly wrong. And meat-spacing just isn't funny. (shrug)
Posted by: elouise at August 17, 2003 06:23 PMalas, i'm just happy to be part of the conversation. i know george and mike from grad school, a meaty affair indeed.
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Posted by: penis enlargement at November 21, 2004 11:01 AMIf a little knowledge is dangerous, where is a man who has so much as to be out of danger?
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