morgamic.com stuff and things, according to Mike Morgan

18May/05Off

Novacaine for the Soul

So blogging is this huge deal now. Syndication, devblogs, company blogs, people getting fired for blogs, people making money off of blogs, bloggers invading cable news, the slashdot effect (hey, it counts!) ...

lots of bullshit has come from my keyboard

I enjoy reading blogs where people lay it all out on the line. I typically see these coming from younger people who are more energetic and maybe a little wreckless. I used to have an "it's what I think so it's okay to speak my mind" philosophy. But you know -- not everything in your head is for sharing. In fact, most of it is pretty unfit for publication.

I'm not promoting censorship -- say whatever the hell you want. Just say it well. Be clear, be understood, be expressive and powerful. It's the difference between saying, "McDonald's is a stupid whore!" and making a documentary like Super Size Me! -- one thing is just brain vomit while the other is organized and thoughtful.

I've learned a few things about blogging:

  • The more you put into it, the more you get out
  • Careful what you say, it doesn't come back
  • What you write is frozen in time
  • It all adds up, and if you don't do it you'll wish you did in a few years
  • More people read your blog than you think

Since I'm obsessed with myself, I went back and read some of my old blogs. Turns out I've been blogging since this post, written Febuary 3rd, 2002:

it's been a while since i've had the energy to update my site. given some of the current projects i've been working on, it's understandable that i've rekindled my love for making silly little webpages.

what is so interesting about webpages to me is the mixture of logic and creativity involved. there is a curious balance between the two when a person makes a website. any webpage represents the symbiotic relationship between the two hemispheres of our brain. in some cases, logic wins, and a page will be 100% functional while looking like shit. in others, pages can be beautiful, but lack functionality, or any semblance of structure.

i figured that i'd take a crack at it. granted, i don't run an ebiz, or anything like that. but it doesn't hurt to try new things and see what happens.

Safe to say, I've written some pretty terrible shit over the years. A lot of what I read tonight I wasn't very proud of, but that's life. You mess up, you get better, repeat. Some of it was surprisingly good -- mostly the things I didn't write in haste or anger.

So here I find myself, blogging in the middle of the night again, breaking myself into pieces small enough to fill this little window of time. To be continued, I guess.

I'm blogging this.

Filed under: Personal 1 Comment
17May/05Off

Toilet Seat Terror

We live in a society full of fear. We over-regulate nuclear power, have airbags on everything but our pee-holes, have to wear helmets to sleep safely and can't play with anything that has a corner. George Carlin was right -- we are definitely a paranoid bunch not willing to take a chance.

picture of a stupid toilet seat cover purse

And so George would agree that our fear of germs is pretty ridiculous as well. We can get food poisoning, chicken flu, bacterial infections, colds, viruses, STDs. We can even get AIDs from kissing! Holy shit, doctor -- you're a fricking moron!

So it's no surprise that one day I went to the bathroom and as the person in the stall next to me sat down, I heard tissue paper crinkling. It was enough to make Seinfeld have a seisure. What's with that???

Apparently we can't even shit in peace. While we are defecating, germs are trying to kill us through the back door! Will we ever be safe?!?!

Not if you live scared. See, I can go to the bathroom, sit down, do my business and not have to use a piece of paper to shield my ass from the grim reapers living on the toilet seat. It saves me the time and humiliation of putting a thin piece of wax paper under my ass. Also, it gives my immune system some practice!

People forget that your skin is your first line of defense. Bacteria isn't going to seep into your pores and take over your body. You have to somehow eat or suck in this stuff. Now, maybe some of you shit and snack at the same time, but that's not my style -- and I don't recommend adopting that habit.

Overall, I think toilet seat covers are symbolic of many things we do in this country to make us feel safe -- to give us the illusion of safety. It's a band-aid fix for what pretty much amounts to general sloppiness and poor personal hygeine. In some cases, I guess it makes up for lack of dexterity -- but come on, it's not that hard to aim, is it?

Instead of drinking toilet water, rubbing your genitals on public surfaces and licking toilets, why don't you just be careful, stay in good health and not worry so much about stuff?

Worrying about germs messes up your immune system, which lets germs kill you. Twice. In your sleep.

Filed under: Society 13 Comments
13May/05Off

Finding your Rob Gordon

At some point you stop and look back at all the shit you went through and the pure volume of past drama is staggering. To think, I did all that, and not in a shy way...

When you're in the thick of it, it's easy to think that you'll never make it. Yet time and again we all somehow find our way. After time clots our wounds and the scar fades, we finally get a chance to make sense of it all -- if it's even possible.

High Fidelity was an interesting look back at the life of John Cusack's character, Rob Gordon. It was a unique narrative, taking you through the failed relationships of a used record store owner.

What can we learn from Rob Gordon? Well, for one, we aren't anywhere near perfect either. We are assholes. We play for our team only, we are selfish, we are liars, we cheat, and sometimes we cut corners. We do it without really thinking. Well, maybe you're a lot nicer than I am, but you have some Rob Gordon in you -- might as well accept it.

So what happens to all of this crust? It is a part of our relationships. It's the dirt on the windshield, the birdshit on a clean car, the piece of furniture that doesn't match. And it's not going anywhere.

But sooner or later we at least realize it's there. We sit up and say, "Holy shit, I was an asshole!" And like Rob did we look back and think of all the things we could have done differently. Was it our fault? Did I fuck things up? Was she the one but I failed to realize it?

And after hours of recounts and retallying, there is a bucket full of maybes and a handful of what-ifs. They can't save you from yourself. They can't change the past. But it's fun to dream about, and you can at least do some things to save the present and future.

We are left with this delicate balance between the crust of ourselves and the sunny side. I think that once you can at least partially understand yourself -- identify your strengths and maintain some level of damage control when it comes to your weaknesses, you are ready to find a person who understands them just as well as you.

For some, it takes a lifetime. But if we are lucky we see things clearer while there is still time to set things straight. Then, when the times comes, we can be ready to give ourselves up and be vulnerable when we should. Of course, until then, things will be a fucking mess. But hey, it's a damn beautiful mess.

I miss her smell. And the way she tastes. It's a mystery of human chemistry and I dont understand it. Some people, as far as your senses are concerned, just feel like home.

Filed under: Movies, Personal, Society 1 Comment