Oct 26, 2014

Form follows function

Form follows function. content follows form.

What, then, is the function? And what content will result? The middle of the first line contains the motivation for this project as well as its result. And the end result is drivel.

function. content

I do not think I am not capable of explaining the function of this project. But I can try to show you, slowly.

This evening, I decided to create a blog. This blog. I had been toying around with the idea for some months, and today the great wheel ratcheted forward, for I arrived at a name.

Flight from perfection

And this name was very special – it was not attached to a domain! www.flightfromperfection.com was free, so www.flightfromperfection.com it shall be. And here we are.

Before writing this post, I began toying around with the settings offered by Wordpress. Some of the things toyed:

  • Should "from" be capitalized in the title? (After consulting an anonymous authority on the internet, I concluded that "Flight from perfection" was slightly imperfect, thus perfect for my purposes here)
  • What favicon to use? (Hot air balloon rising above Greek temple seemed like a good balance of legibility, poetic applicability, and deep meaning)
  • What's a favicon? (Tiny picture that appears next website name on browser tabs [source: wikipedia])
  • Should I change my username? (yes, nalimseffirg is too cryptic and weird. How do you divide it, anyway? nalim sef firg? na limsef firg? nal imseffirg?)
  • Can I change my username? (no, it's locked into Wordpress)
  • Should the tagline use "rubbish" or "drivel"?
  • Same question for "end product" vs. "final product"

All that to get me precisely this far. Which doesn't feel very far at all.

And that's the problem. That's why I'm here, trying to run away from all tiny decisions only to find myself wrapped up in them again. The editorial process is the creative process. Yet somehow it is capable of crushing its own creative blossom.

Self-consumption is a common trope. Ouroboros.

  • Did I spell "ouroboros" right? (no, "ourosboros" first, then to google to check)
  • Will readers understand the reference? Should I post a picture? (no, subtlety is valuable)

So that is the function, as best as I can say it. A tearing-away from myself, a plunging-forward into the murk. A flight from perfection. (The title in the text!)

The form? Stream-of-consciousness blogging, apparently. I'm trying not to box myself in.

And the content? Well, drivel. (or is it rubbish? [will people associate rubbish with British? What would that imply to them about me? {am I being too clever with my meta-commentary? How tiresome it must be.}])

It's all in the name, really.