Hello, world!
I'm typing while riding the train.
I've decided I'm only going to work on this website while I'm in motion…
It's a slightly bumpy ride (NJ transit today!), but meanwhile I'm listening to Brian Eno's Music for Airports. As Brian said, ambient work should be as boring as it is interesting.
Apparently a handful of people have given birth to his Discreet Music. Maybe because they feel okay with it being on loop, being that pleasant mix of boring and interesting. With all that waiting involved, it certainly wouldn't be very fun to give birth to an unexpected tune you forgot was on your birthing mix. (Personally, I would want mostly women musicians on my birthing mix, but that's for another post.)
In "Lust for Loss," writer Lynne Tillman described train stations and airports as watering holes for the sentimental. People are surprised when I tell them how much I enjoy my train commute. Personally, it feels almost indulgent—it's real time to be alone, offline, yet with my computer. It's also a chance to be present with myself and not resort to any quick fixes.
One of my favorite aspects of the decentralized web and particularly Beaker Browser is its focus on the offline. Only when I'm offline can I truly read longer form things on a screen. Since they're saved to my Beaker library, I like checking, in particular, my friends' Beaker sites while riding the train. I like how Beaker fetches updates when I'm online and has them ready for my train time.
I love reading my friends' writing. In general, I would much rather read a friend's blog than view their Instagram post. I like knowing how my friends live and spend their days.
Sure, you can write on Instagram, but it's not encouraged. I'm happy when my friends can express themselves in the medium of their own choosing. Websites allow for this. Websites are also architecture, and authors become architects of their own works. What kind of room is a website? Or is is a website more like a house? A boat? A cloud? A garden?
I wonder what will appear in this notebook. Will my thoughts be more profound when my body is in motion? Or will they be rendered more vague and blurry? I'm excited to find out…