I’m not sure which side this will land on yet, but here goes.

Some origins

I’ve spent a lot of time with Varjak Paul. As John Lennon put it: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” This is the third blog of mine to call itself “The Life and Times of Varjak Paul”, and I cannot say with much certainty that it will be the last; I think I would like that very much, though. A custom domain will help, but I’ll save that for another day.

The first incarnation, which is holding its own, as digital ruins go, can be found here: LaToVP (1). It began in a library on Monroe Street in Rochester, and I blogged there fairly consistently for almost five years. There were poems, short stories, non-plays, lists, and ramblings (both my own and the snippets of my wife’s lovely brand of crazy). In other words, it roamed around quite a bit, and I still have a deep fondness for that particular piece of internet real estate.

The second incarnation saw a change of address: LaToVP (2). It lasted all of four months; I didn’t know what I was doing online anymore, and it showed. Ironically, the final post, the aptly titled Ennui, may have been the best (it’s still my favorite, anyway).

Branching out

In and around those two incarnations of LaToVP I clumsily weaved internettery of various kinds. There were other blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Gnoetry Daily, and certainly more that I am forgetting. I’m not going to cover all that in any detail here. If you are already familiar with my online presence, you don’t need the refresher course; if you are new to me & LaToVP, the links in this post and around this site should provide more than you will ever need or want to know about me and my nerdery.

Again, I seriously doubt my nomadic online existence will discontinue completely, but I do hope to curb it with some permanence here. After all, I have branched out in the “real” world, as well. Three daughters and one house after LaToVP (1) first came into the digital light, I do not have the time I once did for absent-minded roaming around the interwebs. It is more of a challenge now for me to manage my time well enough to allow for things I would like to do online.

Housecleaning

I should note, too, that I’m not done tinkering with the design, here. If you were around for much of LaToVP (1), you’ll already know how that goes. All I can say is, things aren’t set in stone yet, and the ground is still rumbling underfoot.

That said

What will this blog be, then? To begin with, I have already begun the return to my literary roots with my 2011 efforts for NaPoWriMo and InterNaPwoWriMo. There will be (more) poetry, short stories, and maybe even play-like things (non-plays, anyone?). There will be Varjak Paul, and there will be Madison Arling. There will be fatherhood, there will be gadgetry. I’ll list and I’ll ramble, I’ll reference the Bible, both Wordle and otherwise. There may be a semi-regular feature I am tentatively calling Internet or Internot?, in which I will judge the relative worthiness of my Delicious bookmarks (because, you know, Delicious is going away) and my starred items in Google Reader.

Point is, while it will not always look exactly like the blog you are looking at now, one thing will remain: there will be links upon links upon links. Because what is the internet if it is not connections?

In other words, LaToVP will roam around a lot, just as it has from the beginning.
 

what makes perceive themselves
rather hags aliment

force and blow firm,
town not and toward carry spirits

mirror tender hard manners
my observed over opening bean

body greater pointed, even going,
fruits cheap prisoner Etesian

sometimes apart
Having saving living still

crave
melting.

–
Source: Walden
Generator: eDiastic
Seed text: NaPoWriMo 2011 | 20. a haiku for my oven
(cross-posted at Gnoetry Daily)
 

me?”
 

neighbors
tomorrow, supporting being next
merely angle farmers
still.

stop.
swallow still the staples
forced to ago farm
inexpressible
thoughtless and glad everlasting material
Clothing.

the
green dollar fresh
whose ice and corn
absolutely unsuspected
generations of grass
heard.

2

the board redeemers
paid myself stealing,
sang who them
go
and actually for into grass tropes
to whole freedom.

3

the surprising
finds fog flower forms
trumpery

–
Source: Walden
Generator: eDiastic
Seed text: NaPoWriMo 2011 | 13. a haiku