Marc Comtois

My sister Jana had a brain tumor a couple years ago and blogged about it . Well, it came back and she has had a second brain surgery - and she's blogging about it again. I was always a little afraid of her even though she's two years younger than me; I worried she could kick my ass.  I still think she could...and she can definitely kick tumor ass, too.

I'm everywhere online, it seems. This blog, another blog (though increasingly less frequently 'twould appear), old blogs (up above there), Twitter and Facebook. Lots of presence, lots of words--too many probably.  For what? To hear myself talk (or "see" myself "write")? The act of writing organizes thoughts. But now is seems like my thoughts on various and sundry topics have been organized and filed already.  I've written and opined for a decade or so on may topics and now I feel like, too often, I'm just repeating myself.  It's a challenge to say something new about the same ol' same ol', isn't it?  To not repeat yourself or echo others? I guess that's nothing new. But it's a tough standard and one to which I scarcely adhere. I guess the trick is to say the same thing in new and interesting ways.  Or don't say anything at all. So onward. Writing organizes, yes. But it also takes work, which means practice, which mean...

The title is a bit of hyperbole, but time was I maintained two blogs and contributed to a third. Now? I contribute to that same third.  What happened? Twitter.  I don't know if it's good or not, but I suspect not. Trying to debate and cram in thoughts in 140 or so characters isn't as fulfilling....but it's quicker. And it helps you avoid having to write about stuff, really. You just tweet out a link to a story, add a pithy comment and it's gone, done with. Hey, you handled it. Oh so many years ago (like around 5), you'd read a story or just have a thought (or have a thought on a story) and you'd provide the link in the course of a 2-5 paragraph excursion, complete with blockquotes from the story as well as from other related items.  Now you tweet a link. It's quick, it's also lazy but I don't think it's going to change.

In 1993 I worked as a merchant mariner on ship anchored in the lagoon of Diego Garcia, which is a small island in the Indian Ocean that serves as a staging ground for the U.S. military.  Back then, I paid $100 once a week to talk to my fiance for 30 minutes.  I waited for her letters like they were gold.  17 years and two kids later, it was enough to help get us through! But it was tough.  Nowadays, people in the same situation can email regularly, talk on the phone via the web and even "skype" each other to see the ones they love.  Keeping a long-distance relationship is certainly easier now. 

Another Fall Recreational soccer season is over (just about). Maybe it's time to get some writing in.

Men, women, kids, the USA v. Brazil woman's world cup game was one of the best, most entertaining I've ever seen.

Maybe I'm late to the party, but the way that the newish website Grantland utilizes the right sidebar as a home for footnotes ( example ) strikes me as both effective and elegant.  I propose that it become the "web standard".