A Bit of History

The blog rreaches reach far into the roots of my family. References to it can be seen in family albums and diaries from the nineteenth century: "That was no bluefish, maybe it was a blog" (we were a nautical family). Blog jokes were especially popular among the young: "What goes bloak, bloak?" My Aunt Estelle who was given to hallucinations, started a blog in the 1930s before she was hospitalized, her last words, as she was wheeled out the door being, "You'll see. You'll all see. Then we'll see who's laughing." My own son, when he was two rode toy trucks across the computer keyboard. Of course, this was in the 1979s before computers were a home item or even existed for that matter but it shows that the genomes were already present. My son currently does not blog nor is he mentioned in BLOGG, but there is a natural shyness that runs through my family and we like to keep personal matters to ourselves. It was a very short period of time between when I first learned about blogs and they were beyong my comprehension. That may be the space we are occupying now. I bring up my family history not for the sympathy of the readers, if there are any, but just as an example how lines from it may be written across your grandchildren's cofee cups and you will have both hands on your ears and will be saying, "Oh Lord, what have I done?" Relax. You are forgiven. At least by me and whatever powers of forgiveness I have to grant. It is good to be forgiven. It took my wife a long time but I think she really did forgive me for the lime green Honda I bought in 1987, a great forgiveness, considering that her first reaction was, "I will not drive this grasshopper turd without wearing a blindfold." We currently have a black Toyota and aside from killing three teen=agers because the brakes don't work, there are not problems.

As I sit here in my writing room (I really do not have a writing room. It is my living room and I am sitting on a sofa with a laptop waxing romantic),I notice strange objects all around me: a rectanular black and white rug and a round re and yellow one. Is there any particular reason for these shapes? Nothing we can ascertain with the level of knowledge our race has achieved thus far. The room has four plants and all I have to do is water them periodically and they are conent. Is there not a lesson to be learned from that? Or from the doorknob with a Trader Joe's shopping bag filled with my tax returns hanging from it. Not to mention electronic keyboards, a round lass table with two black fake leather chairs. Two green tables which my wife said were uglier than the Honda. A round telephone table with a black telehone which has been waiting a year and a half for its audition. I do not count wrong numbers. A television with a large screen, a lamp, two picutres which are really framed wrapping paper, two red floral pillows one of which I am leaning on as I write this so I do not totally destroy my back. There are book cases that contain many titles and not just books, cds and dvds as well. There is a glass vase that contains all my ipod minis and their headphones hopelessly tangled together, a picture of my son a t about age 10 perchd in a corner of he window, the NY Times from the last two days which must be taken to the garbage, the tv and dv remote which lie silently on the green table, piles of white and black wires and extensions which were hastily assembled by son. They make this blog, my email and my life possible but I have no idea which one is connected to what and when they periodically go off as electronic appliances are wont to do, I feel a loneliness and despair that is indescribable, being cut off from the whole electronic human race. And these are just the quiet things, The expensive bose stereo is playing Pandor which now features advertisements from Carnegie Hall. I want to ask my psychiatrist why relaxing music makes me tense-- can it just be anticipation of relaxation disorder. I have no problem with loud music that I hate because I can just turn it off and it is gone and I don't have to think about it anymore. I know I have left out more things than I have mentioned, although truth be told I do not have that many things. There are some of you (if there are any of you) who are wondering why I am voluteering all this personal information. Indeed, sometimes I wonder myself, But I see that here in part 2 stronger measures are called for as we said to Elysium together. It is not impossible that I will subsequently itemize for you in a smiliar manner the items in my kitchen, closets, bedroom and bathroom. A great number of those are disgusting but I hardly see them. I have more important fish to fry.