Same Place, Different River
You can’t step into
the same river twice.
--Heraclitus
This site is changing. And, given a very peculiar sense of fun, my first inclination is to just make the changes and say nothing--perhaps even vehemently deny that anything is even slightly different. Just to mess with you. But as weblog culture has evolved, there’s increased pressure to act grown-up--even responsibly. (This, of course, is why I tend to like my technologies interstitial as opposed to codified.) Thus, since it’s now seen as Thoroughly Wrong to mess around with visitors’ impressions, I’m here on my best, most hospitable behavior, writing this helpful, clarifying note. (Imagine Basil Fawlty, going way overboard as he welcomes guests to his hotel.)
Until recently, this little piece of the blogosphere was known as Blogging With AquaMinds NoteTaker. And, as long we’re dealing in trivia, also know that this is a perfect example of a spontaneous, accidental weblog. Originally, this site was an exercise in self-fulfilling prophesy: I predicted NoteTaker could be used as a blogging tool and then proceeded to actually use it to blog about, well, blogging with it. (Read that last sentence again--it makes twisted sense, I promise.)
Put another way, this weblog is basically a proof-of-concept that somehow got above itself. Much like Pinnochio aspiring to be a real boy or Bela Lugosi being buried in his Dracula cape or Joey from Friends getting his own TV series, this site is the result of a could that became a can. And although I was there at the time, I can’t say for certain how (or why) it happened. All I know is that here I am, more than a year later, still dancing with this thing.
The first 66 posts on this site represent my initial obsession with NoteTaker as a blogging tool. And then came The Hiatus, during which I thought a lot about NoteTaker (far more than is healthy for someone who does not work for AquaMinds) in other, broader contexts.
The main take-away from all this pondering is simply that NoteTaker is an extremely deep and multifaceted program and I feel the need to explore some of its other not-obvious uses. And yeah, blogging will continue to be one such application--but as part of a larger index of possibilities. For those who have previously visited this site, I encourage your continued pop-ins. While you won’t find wall-to-wall NT blogging tips of yesteryear, there will be a steady stream of tricks that usefully extend NoteTaker into all areas of a productive online life.
Blogging--properly-done--is the refinement and crystallization of living; the tip of an experiential iceberg. And I currently have 66 posts that demonstrates the many ways NoteTaker can hone that tip. But what about the run-up to a blog post? All the stuff that has inspired, driven and enhanced whatever it is you’re writing about? What about the 90 percent of resources that supports the posting, yet remains invisible to your readers? The intellectual dark matter comprised of searching, compiling, thinking, annotating, collaborating and exchanging ideas--all critically assisted by local and online tools and services? How does NoteTaker fit into this Panavision and Technicolor scheme of things?
This, my friends, is what the newly christened Exploring AquaMinds NoteTaker will be chronicling--along with continued coverage of the ways NT can be used to blog per se. I think you’ll find the new direction as helpful as the old one.
During the next few weeks the overhaul and repositioning of this site will be unavoidable. Try to treat this as a home remodeling job--some inconvenience, a lot of dust and, inevitably, the feeling it will never be over. But, of course, it will be--and better for those successive swarms of craftspeople. Here’s an example of what I mean: While the posting categories will be expanded to accommodate the new, broader vision of NoteTaker, I’ll also be building topical descriptors into the headline of each post, putting them at the reader-friendly top-of-entry.
Bottom line, there’s a good chance that some of the hitherto solid structuring of this blog may intermittently flicker and I beg your collective pardon in advance. What passes for normalcy in this place will be restored as soon as possible . . .
Recent Comments
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Pssst--Hey buddy, can I share something with you?
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