Refine
Refined 11/21/11
So I’m a geek, for starters, and also routinely bother my friends with obsessions about value and beauty and contentment and definitions. Constantly definitions. Always with the “working definitions.” Also story and myth and words, and productivity systems, and elegant numbers, and maps of (formerly) nowhere and an ineluctible1 urge to create games. And questions about what makes things pretty or why I even bother to read or whether Jesus is living and breathing — right now – in an alternate dimension.
Because my brain, I’ve figured out, or possibly my soul, can’t sit still without creating coherent systems, eliminating the arbitrary, achieving elegance. I’m the kid who never grew out of asking, “Why?” I can’t stand principles that contradict each other or assertions that contradict beliefs or lifestyles that contradict principles, most especially in myself. And I can’t stand to live without knowing why I do what I do, and why others do what they do, and how to do it better and why better is even good at all.
Which is beautiful. Mine is an absolutely gorgeous mind to inhabit. If you’re not me, though, I suspect my many and eager obsessions get obnoxious over time, especially when they’re flung at you, as mine so often are, apropos of nothing, while you’re trying to enjoy a cup of something warm with an excellent mystery novel.
So this blog is going to be where I can dump and twiddle and work on my questions very freely, exactly when I choose to. I’m hoping it also attracts some people who are similarly — or better yet, diversely — insatiable, who can ask me questions and give me answers and generally geek out alongside me as I doodle maps and create self-replicating games and set fictional creatures free to live unexpected lives. Or whatever I end up doing.
Which leads to the structure I’ve chosen for this blog. It’s content is not necessarily going to stay static. I’m giving myself full leeway to go update, edit, alter or refine any entry whenever I feel like it. The content will get better over time. Each post has its own number, and you can get back to number X quite simply by pointing your browser to Benjamins.Blog.com/X. So if you find a concept you like, pop back in occasionally to see if I’ve built it up or fleshed it out or whittled it down into something cleaner and more useful.
You can also help me refine the blog. Ask questions. Post comments. Point out errors and screwy thinking and bad motivation. I’ll take it into account, and comments from real, interesting people2 are distilled joy.
I’m really glad you’re here. Thanks for reading.
Warmly,
Ben
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1I love this word.
2And real people are, essentially, pure interesting.
