Intermission
I've had some questions about this blog so let's get to them today as we take a break from this autohagiography.
Q: How often do you make additions to this blog?
A: When I feel like it, have time or the muse demands it. The best way to keep up with this blog is off to the side of this blog. There is a place to add your email to subscribe to the site. Then when I do updates you'll know.
Q: I just discovered your blog. Are there some chapters I should read first to get an idea of this?
A. Some people begin by reading a chapter, then start at the beginning. Some people read the chapters in random order. Some read the chapter twice. Once to read it and the second time a few days later to see the comments added. If you look at the bottom of the posts you'll see the word comment, if there is a number there comments have been left. Click on it.
This has been the coolest part of this project. There is what I write, and then the comments left by readers often end up being as long or longer that my post. This makes the blog organic in a way that blogs that leave comments usually don't explore. Most comments at places like Myspace or on blogs are like the comments left in a high school yearbook. Which brings us to this question:
Q: How did you get the idea to tell this story in the form of a blog? I ask that because I first thought blogs would bring back diaries and personal histories. I had yet to find one that measured up to that standard until I found this blog. Fake friends on Myspace and Friendster, blogs that reveal nothing or too much- I had given up on the medium ever living up to its potential.
A. I think part of it was that I had little contact with blogs and those I did see were usually sent to me for my blog http://allnightsurfing.blogdrive.com about the cool and weird stuff I find on the web. The ones I saw were exceptional. When I first saw Myspace it was advertising for bands and that was fine with me. I just presumed there were loads of blogs like this on the net.
So the fact I knew little of these sites probably helped. The idea of what a blog could be intrigued me. The comments part has been a fantastic part of this project and is a surprise for me. I never know what will be left there. Lester Maddox's chicken recipe is something I couldn't have predicted. Or thought to post! The leaving of comments started about half way through what I'd written so far without prompting from me. I hadn't even thought of it!
Q: When are you getting to the Church of the Subgenius again?
A: This is still, for a few more months the 25th anniversary of the Subgenius Convention I hosted, and film screenings and devivals I set up. So in the same random order these chapters are coming together there will be more on the Church. If I could tell you when I would, but all I can say is soon.
There are some people who only read the Atlanta parts, some that only read the Del parts, and a large hungry group that want me to toss in a Subgenius chapter. Most people read all of it. I thank you all!
Q: In your chapters on Del, which history wise are mind expanding about countercultures and I enjoy these parts very much, how do you know what was said by Del when you weren't there? Isn't that more of a scriptwriting exercise?
A: I knew Del and saw him daily for over 10 years. So many of these stories I heard more than once, or got into discussions with him about. My chapters on him are based more on the way we discussed the stories and the way he told the stories. A scriptwriter would be writing about someone either non existent or that the writer never met.
Q: How long is this going to be?
A: I had a long running joke with my pals that I would write CASANOVA 2020: DIARY OF A CAD, and that would be 20 volumes long. I suspect when I die I will still be posting. I would suggest going to the restroom and getting your popcorn now, as the next chapter is going to be about Del and James Dean. They actually had a class together!
