Balance

Have you ever seen The Social Network? I just watched it for the second time, and I suppose it got me thinking again. I really hated it the first time to be honest, because I couldn't relate with any of the characters, and they all had their moments of, excuse my Japanese, baka-ness. I found the arguments to be incredibly petty, some of the characters to be ridiculously dense, and you could roll your eyes at every decision made. Needless to say, not a movie I enjoyed.

But watching it again, a line that came up twice (obviously, for effect), jumped out at me: "You don't want to ruin it with ads because ads aren't cool. It's like you're throwing the greatest party on campus and someone saying it's gotta be over by eleven. You don't even know what the thing is yet. How big it can get, how far it can go."

Now I really hope that no one takes this as an insult, but I'm going out on a limb here to speak my mind-- I sat here for about twenty minutes, typing up my thoughts on a reading about social capital, and how referring to social interactions as "capital" was completely devaluing human nature. And then I stopped and thought, how does this even relate to what I'm doing? Anyone who's reading this for my thoughts in the guitar isn't going to care.

Of course, the above quote popped into my head. It's hard sometimes, connecting everything together-- making this, not just an academic blog, but a blog for myself, and a blog for everyone I'm trying to reach. How do I even begin to relate social media to guitar playing?

So of course, I deleted everything I had written, and began writing this. Then I grabbed my notebook, searching my marginal notes for ideas, when I came across another quote, about "taking the entire experience [of college] and put[ting] it online".

And that's what this is about, isn't it? The college part relates, sure, because of where I am and what I'm doing; but putting it online. Taking my experience with the guitar, and putting it out there for anyone to find. And in contrast to Putnam's take on social "capital", I'm trying to reach out and connect, without expecting anything in return. I thought back to when I started playing, and how it would have been wonderful if I'd had some direction or guide through the process. But then of course, I wouldn't be doing what I am now. So that's what this is about, isn't it? It's about using my music-loving noggin to make this interesting, and about putting my experiences up online.

And even in a watered-down Justin Hall manner, I suppose I am trying to keep a fairly lose censor. I want to post everything I know about guitar, everything I find or experience, and everything I'm unsure about. Every mistake I make and every trouble I'm having. It's a way for me to organize my thoughts, like my first essay prompt this year alluded to, but it's supposed to be encouraging for anyone reading this. We've discussed building an online identity for yourself-- sometimes an extension of yourself, sometimes an avatar. And I want this image of myself to be as true as possible. Related of course to my playing, but true. I don't try to embellish things; the point is, I'm not perfect, and I don't make myself out to be. I want to be as relate-able as possible. As such, the goal will be to continue posting with a limited censor, but without losing sight of what I'm really writing about.

-Kal