A few words about the title of this blog: David Byrne, famous as the front man of the Talking Heads, has had a very interesting solo career since that band's commercial highpoint many years ago. There is a song on his self-titled 1994 album called 'Angels', with the following lines -
I can barely touch my own self
How could I touch someone else?
I am just an advertisement
For a version of myself
Those words stuck with me since I first heard them around
1995, and it occurred to me as I pondered this blog project that all our digital
identities are literally 'advertisements' for some version of ourselves that we
would like others to see. Byrne, showing his Buddhist influence, is talking
about intimate relationships, a different context than the online world. But
are we really any different in any part of our lives in deciding what we want
others to see about us? I know it is
true for me. And now that we can copy/paste, embed, and link to show who we
are, is what we show more or less authentic? Isn't my title and this explanation just more of the same 'version' control?
So here it is, my 'hello world' for the blogosphere. Which version of myself shall I be showing? You'll have to stay tuned.
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