Experiencing the web

I was driving to lunch today and the thought that came to mind was “I just want to experience the web, not talk about it.” Seems like a simple statement. But there is more to it.

The reason that I’ve been doing this for so long, is the fact that I’ve found a multitudes of ways to enhance the hobbies, interests and passions I have, using the web as a catalyst for doing more than I ever imagined would be possible.

The reason I’m able to blog about what I do, is because I engage in a variety of different activities on the web that don’t necessarily have anything to do with what I do at work. Yet, they inform the very experiences and give me perspective that I would otherwise not have.

So while creating Facebook applications and baseball statistics are random things, they’re still part of the big picture for me.

Talking about the web is fun and interesting. But people usually want to know how to apply what knowledge I have for what they are trying to do. That’s universal. Whether I’m at work, whether I’m out on the road or even with friends. They want to take the raw knowledge and refine it for their own purposes.

So that’s what I’m interested in more than anything. I’ve always wanted to be able to help people enhance their web experience, to learn how to make things more useful and apply the knowledge they’ve gained through a workshop or something else to good use. I’m not concerned with filling their brains with stuff that doesn’t matter and feel great when they come back and want to learn more.

The significance of now

I won’t be voting for either major party candidate in this year’s Presidential election (and I never have…)

But I can’t help be struck by this…

August 28, 1955 – Emmitt Till is murderd in Mississippi
August 28, 1963 – Martin Luther King gives his I Have A Dream Speech in Washington, D.C.
August 28, 2008 – Barack Obama accepts Democratic nomination for President in Denver, CO.

I, Too, Sing America
Langston Hughes

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America.