This is an RSS Club only post! Please do not share.
There is a joy in posting to the RSS Club, a strange feeling that I can't quite describe. Maybe it's a slight mischievousness, subtly Machiavellian. It's the feeling of exclusivity, of knowing that only some people are in on the joke.
Not that there is a joke, far from it.
RSS Club isn't meant to be exclusionist – exclusive, yes, but not exclusionist. Although, by definition, I suppose it can't not be. Perhaps that's where the strange feeling comes from. It's something a bit different, a bit of fun celebrating one particular medium of distribution, one that is open to all should they decide to adopt it.
I think my feelings about this tie into my thoughts about timelines, their convenience and the willingness of people to go beyond that convenience to find what they want. But maybe that's just me being a grumpy old fart who actually cares more about audience than he professes.
Still, I can be as guilty as the next man in this regard.
Ah, the performative nature of blogging even when writing for oneself. It is a curious beast, one that makes you wonder if we have all been changed forever. What the quote "we make technology then technology makes us" or words to that effect. In an attempt at playing god, man creates systems in his image but that image is forever changed by the very systems he designs.
Or has it merely been enhanced, brought more into focus? Is technology an enabler for something that has always been there, looking for a way to rise to the surface?
I think back to childhood me wondering if I would ever have imagined suffering from the technology induced delusions of grandeur. I would like to think 'no, of course not' but cannot, hand on heart, say so with much conviction. Despite shyness and introversion, that performative essence has always existed; whether it be through sport, playing video games, graffiti, DJing (the list goes on) there has always been something, perhaps a way of fighting the shyness. There has always been a desire for others to look upon what I do, to be the centre of attention – as ironic and contradictory as that may seem.
Maybe it all harkens back to, and is a hangup from, neolithic man's need to be seen as the most attractive mate, manifesting in ways that nature never intended.
@colinwalker We did a similar change two years ago, and my physical health is greatly improved as a result.
@colinwalker Very wise choice for your health and the environment! My wife and I haven't been able to pull the trigger on going fully or mostly vegetarian, but we have tried to bring more chicken and fish into the mix as opposed to red meat.
@colinwalker You'll be glad you did! Oddly, we've become mostly vegetarian without exactly intending to. (1) We became horrified by factory farming and try only to buy meat from animals raised in a humane way. The meat is harder to find and a lot more expensive. (2) The Orthodox fasting rule makes us vegan on about half the days of the year.
We tried a number of years ago but with me being a fussy easy eater who doesn't like most vegetables, especially those traditionally used as meat replacements, it never stuck. Fortunately, available meats replacements are much better now so this time should be easier.