Friday 25 January 2008

One Year Old Today



Today Crushed is one year old.

That's pretty impressive.
Is my baby all growed up?

Has he surpassed my wildest dreams?
Not yet he hasn't. But he's still a baby.

I'm proud of him. Of course I am.
He is the product of a lifetime's thought.

I suppose I'd better let you all into a secret. Crushed really has become my life's work. That may sound way over the top, so I really had better explain, or you'll all think I'm nuts.

I happen to believe very strongly that the conclusions I have come up with on how the universe works, how that affects biology, and how that in turn affects the species is worth writing about.

For the last couple of years, actually writing a book outlining the the thermodyamic theory of evolution, history in systematic terms, and my theories on how best to move forward as a species, has dominated my mind.

The only problem was, I knew I'd never write it, because all previous efforts at writing anything have failed. The reason is simple. I need continuous feedback, otherwise I get disheartened. My novel remains unwritten because no matter how many copies I hand out of the first five chapters, no one can be bothered to read a fraction of a novel.

And even if I wrote my book- 'Human Society- How it Came About, How it Works and Where it's Going', who would publish it? Where's my credibility to write such a work?

I started this blog by accident. I happened on this particular blog, purely by accident, and ended up commenting.
To my surprise I ended up in a long comment debate regarding Racism.

It fuelled my interest, and I started reading other blogs.
But you had to get a blogger ID to comment at many of them.

Well, I went to register, end ended up with a blog template.
So on January 25th 2007, I ended up writing a post.
Slowly, more followed.

Slowly, I became more confident actually saying the things that I say in real life. And over time, Crushed began to develop an existence.

And as the summer arrived, I began to see that Crushed really could serve a purpose.
I didn't need a publisher. I could write the book bit by bit. It didn't have to be in order. And not every post I did, needed to be FOR the book. Sometimes, just an insight into me, would suffice.



I COULD actually carry out the one thing I really wanted to do. To outline for all time, the sum total of the worldview I had spent my life developing.
And when I've done, I just put it in order, and leave it online.

Finally completing, and putting this (eventual) Magnum Opus in order, really is my life's work. I suspect that within another three-four years, it will be finished, and then- well, we'll cross that bridge, when and if we come to it.

I hope we do. It will be how I judge my life on my deathbed. Whether or not I completed it.

And I guess this is why every commentor counts, and why variation is important. Be you Far Right, Far Left, Liberal, Feminist, Born again Christian, I want your point of view.

I want the viewpoint of the 22 year old student, and the 50 year old poet.
I want my views critically examined, so I can re-analyse them and see where I'm wrong.

Each commentor counts and is special in their own way. Many commentors here really have inspired me to go off and think about what they have said, and provided thought for fresh posts. Many have provided inspiration in posts they themselves have done.

Somebody was shocked once when I told them that each and every comment here, is more rewarding than sex.
Of course. It's stimulation of the mind. And that comes over and above stimulation of the body any day.

Well, I guess we had some good times and bad times, but I think the only way now is forward.
Time to shake the dust out of the boots and start a new chapter.

I hope those good friends who have joined this journey will continue to share the road from time to time, and as for those who don't care to journey with us, at least don't come charging out of the forest to rob us.

The series on the history of human systems continues tomorrow (Or Sunday- I just had a phonecall from The Baker saying he is coming over for the weekend)



And I'm going to end by being a stat bore.
I think just for one day, I'm allowed to. I've never bored you before by publishing my stats, because they're;
a. Not remotely impressive.
b. Not in any sense accurate, I think. They are a bit like opinion polls. The data they pick up is patchy.
c. Stemeter was installed in June and Clustrmaps in July.

But so far we have had (according to these devices) 2,997 profile views, 13,283 visitors according to sitemeter, with 37,059 page views. Clustrmaps, which seems to be more accurate in showing readers, as it works on IP addresses, registered 18,708 visitors.

That's not so bad really.

Positive thinking Crushed is back.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your first anniversary, Crushed by Ingsoc.

You know a commitment of a year to this blogging thing is quite an achievement. It shows great discipline. Plus you have a idea of where you are going.

Your start sounds like mine. I took an ID to comment on medblogs, which I did for 4 months before I stuck my toe into the water. No idea where I am going.

Here's to a good year for the next one.

Anonymous said...

>Somebody was shocked once when I told them that each and every comment here, is more rewarding than sex.
Of course. It's stimulation of the mind. And that comes over and above stimulation of the body any day.
YUP! And stimulation of the spirit/soul will probably beat those two...

> And when I've done, I just put it in order, and leave it online
*I hope you keep a copy apart from blogger, because all this stuff sometimes fails us; and it'd be a waste if it all vanished; I used to keep stuff on floppy disks, and they're all gone now, 'cos floppys spoil easily* Yup, when you finish, I plan to copy out and save the whole blog *assuming I'm around to see the end. :-)*

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
YOU WERE BORN IN A ZOO,
YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY,
AND YOU SMELL LIKE ONE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!




(allegedly...)

Anonymous said...

A milestone to be sure. Thirty's not so bad, it's all mental anyhow.

Anonymous said...

One already? Dont they grow up fast? I admire your ambition Mr Inngsoc...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations.
G

Anonymous said...

Happy Burpday!!!!!!!!! Champaigne corks popping. Here's to the end of blogging and the start of creating a multidimensional nonlinear text, a writer in a whole new medium, yayayayayayayayayay. Happy BurpDay dear Crushed, happy burpday to you,

Anonymous said...

Oh and I just wanted to say re the stat meter thing (feel free if you want to read but not post my comments) You know I am undeterable anyway, that I used to have one and looked at it but then I realised I really didn't care. If I deal with the blogs around me like people not numbers the whole thing was quicker, easier and lots more fun, hence more effective, just a note,

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. Blogging can be tiresome, and lonely, but to reach the 1year mark is a great achievement.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, CBI!

I know what you mean, it is interesting how a medium that seems so ephemeral and flighty can be so very real.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your birthday. You said you started blogging by accident. There are no accidents, only experiences.

I don't like seafood, but I would love the little lobster.

Here's to more provocative blog posts and lots more cake.

Anonymous said...

Many happy returns, CBI. I enjoy your blog as much for the little insights as for its higher purpose, which you've articulated very clearly in your anniversary post.

Here's to many more!

Anonymous said...

jmb- We actually went for a few drinks to celebrate :)

My first posts were usually very short, I didn't know how to edit, so they are full of mistakes and it took me months to work out how to add pictures.

It's a wonder of modern technology that a one fingered typist who has not mastered Excell spreadsheets yet can nevertheless blog :)

Eve- In some sense, it does satisfy the soul. Maybe that's partly it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you've heard the expression, God gave man two brains but only enough blood to run one at a time?
I have that problem a lot.

But I'll let you into a little secret; The most erotic thing I can think of is an intelligent discussion with a beautiful woman.

Yes, I had thought about that. It probably might be wise to start looking at the posts that are worth saving.

Shades- I BEHAVE like a monkey, that has been said before.

I also DO great people with 'HEY! MONKEY!' a lot.

Helen- It just sounds old. When I was really little, thirties was where your parents were.

Mutley- Ambition should be made of sterner stuff...
Lack of ambition is something I am often accused of.

But i think is realistic. Like evolution, it just boils down to time.

Grendel- Thanks, it's been a drag sometimes, but I've stuck at it :)

Paul- I guess that's how I want to see it, yes.
It can be the world's first direct democratic debating forum.

I think we do all have a certain responsibility here.

I think sitemeter provides useful information, but as you say, it is irrelevant. It's nice to know there are silent readers, but the noisy ones are more fun. It is interesting that there are a small clique of 'unknown's who appear often in the referrals, but probably aren't bloggers. How they became readers, I have no idea.

Of late I've been the world's worst visitor, which is partly down to exhaustion, but I am aiming to start organising my time better.

Ms S- It is tiresome sometimes, or at least, blogging itself isn't.

My best mate has mixed feelings about it, he thinks the stress it can potentially create is a negative (certain situations over the last year have completely baffled him) and that I could put the energy into my career instead.

Ruthie- Well, I guess we are all real people :)
It is real, and I suppose sometimes, we forget that. After all, although I associate jmb with a little Yorkshire Terrier and Grendel with a prowling monster, I don't think either of them look like that in RL. And RL? I post in what is certainly a very real room, with a very real keyboard. Very real people read and leave very real comments.

I think the good thing is that people who probably wouldn't exchange views in RL, do so here.
Just look at the diversity just in this comments section.

Alexys- If you google my real name, it is actually possible to see how I got into it.

One of my odder interests, is elections. I enjoy predicting them, and usually put on a few bets.

Opinion polls aren't particularly helpful really, they just give you generlised swing patterns. Actual results are based on real voters in real constituencies. You have to work out what's happening in each.

Predicting a General election is a mammoth operation, the margin of error is huge. You have to guess (for the UK), 646 constituencies correctly. (Or be wrong in the right way, by guessing as many wrongly one way as you do the other)

I was actually searching for backround information for the 2007 Scottish elections and came upon blogs by accident.

Lad Litter- Everyone needs a purpose, I think.
I guess I've always been a rebel without a cause.
Crushed has become my cause :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday.

Anonymous said...

Start writing a book, Crushed.

It would be fantastic - and what if you got published ? Now wouldn't THAT be something ?

Indeed this is a great blog but you must never invest your all into something which is so intangible.

Happy 'Birthday'.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Crushed!
You look so fetching in your lobster suit.

This new mode of writing and communications has done wonders for a lot of people, whether inspiring them to write again, making a novel more manageable, or just help them feel less alone.