Originally Posted on August 14th, 2007:

I was having this discussion elsewhere, and felt the need to elaborate. You don’t need to go there to find out what was said, because I’ve conveniently rehashed the issue here. The discussion has to do with whether or not English is an important subject at school. My answer: absolutely! The main argument against this is that even someone who fails English as a subject will still know it “well enough to get by” in day-to-day life. They say the English language is adaptable–that words can mean whatever you want them to mean–because when a phrase or word is used often enough, it becomes integrated into the language itself. I agree in the sense that words and expressions are an adaptable part of the English language.

However, I think the rules should be observed.

Language is easily the single most important human construct in existence. The purpose of language is to convey a message or to express an idea. Clever expressions, similes, anecdotes and parables all assist in explaining a meaning, but even with these the rules should be followed so that the meaning of the message remains intact. For when the mechanism by which we communicate is crippled, the message is compromised as well.

Language can be a barrier as much as a facilitator, even when the language is the same. Here’s how I put it in the forums:

Suppose I want to convey that I’m hungry. I would say,”hey, let’s go get something to eat.” You would understand the meaning of that. Likewise, you would understand the meaning of slang (”grab a bite”, for instance) or a humorous adaptation such as,”the track is empty. I need to rebuild the poop train.” You’d also understand a simile such as “I’m going on empty, need to refill.”

You would not, however, understand “Zeegbarper quarter goofenhorfer blung revelation,” even if I was trying to say the same thing. This is why rules for language exist and why it is important to understand and abide by them. If we lose the means by which to communicate, nothing will get done, ideas will not be shared, meanings will be lost or misinterpreted.

If we are simply able to make up the rules as we go, the purpose of language is lost. There needs to be grammatical structure, proper spelling and proper punctuation. The example sentence above has none of these, as all the words can mean whatever we want them to mean, and the sentence structure can be whatever we want it to be.

There are a number of limitations people place upon themselves when they disregard the proper use of English, be it written or spoken. Career choice is the major limitation, but speaking and writing in poor English may not have as large of an effect on this as the common response to it: indignation.

Yes, indignation is the number one response we have to the butchering of our native language. Following that is a perceived inferiority towards the offender and then, sometimes, ridicule. This is common among all cultures, including the German, the French, the Spanish, Italians, Russians, etc., not just our own.

Think of the last time you talked to a non-Americanized Chinese or Indian over the phone or in person, and the frustration and indignation you felt when you couldn’t understand them clearly. Or perhaps you mocked the person to their face or laughed about how they spoke behind their back. That’s what I’m talking about. You’ve been there. Against you, that person didn’t have a chance. It didn’t matter how smart they actually were; you either treated them as being inferior or perceived them as such. Or, on the opposite end of things, perhaps you treated them with too much care because you thought they wouldn’t be able to understand you at all.

Why?

Because of the way they spoke. Because of language. It is a prejudice we all have and there is no escaping from it. For instance:

why people dont find a darn job instead of holding up people,attacing people on the street,stellin at food stores,,get a job lazy azz people in peoria.the cop should of shot him,,one less lazy person in peoria

That was written by someone known only as “why this don’t suprise me” in response to this article on pjstar.com. I don’t know about the rest of you, but judging by what this person wrote, their grammar, punctuation and spelling, I’d say they’re a god damn idiot, wouldn’t you? Is it true? Who knows, doesn’t matter, look at the way they write!

This is why you get spelling/grammar trolls on forums and websites who would rather decry the poor spelling and shitty grammar of someone than listen to what they have to say or engage them based on the merits of their argument. The trolls aren’t any smarter. They simply know that if the person is perceived as stupid it won’t matter what they say. Honestly, how often do we genuinely listen to people we think are stupid? (Hint: the answer is “never”)

That’s my case for it.

Originally Posted on August 5th, 2007:
Ah, web design. I remember the days when plain text and a few animated .gif’s was all it took to impress anyone. When pages full of links to your favorite things was common; when a guest book feature was a non-negotiable part of a personal website.

Then came a day where pages had to have a uniform look. Animated .gifs flourished only on free homepage sites. Nobody wanted a guest book, but comment sidebars were all the rage. People didn’t have simple “About me” pages with a few pictures or tutorials. Fully-featured weblogs with commenting systems and forums were the standard. But templates having basic colors in visible tables was still par for the course.

Now, with the increased popularity of the web, coupled with our computers’ increased capabilities, standards are high as ever. One must at least make an attempt to push the envelope, or else be left in the dust. Multiple, user-selected themes are common, as are sleek graphics and flashy logos. But more than that, the site now has to actually have interesting content.

It’s been awhile since I’ve fired up Photoshop and tested my capabilites. I’ve always wanted to do something sleek and flashy, but minimalist at the same time. One thing I definitely do not want is a canned, pre-packaged look, which was sometimes the result of past labors.

The key to good design, in my opinion, is delivering substance without meandering off-topic. For instance, in a minimalist design, one must choose what the overall look is going to be while taking care not to over-do it. Less is more, but how much
less is the dilemma. Even when pursuing a more robust format where the designer must go over-the-top a bit, it’s a challenge to make the design effective without making it look “busy.”

Peer review can be helpful when it’s done by like-minded individuals. But everyone has their own particular likes and dislikes. While it’s good to have your work appraised by people who know what they’re doing, it’s difficult not to have their influence inserted into the process.

I’ve found that general review, on the other hand, is almost never a good idea unless you’re trying to market and sell something. This is either because they don’t know or understand what you’re trying to do, or because they wouldn’t know good design if it sat on them. You might find their version of good design by visiting their geocities.com homepage.

After much toil and trial, I think I’ve come up with the look of blargen.com and the technique to replicate it. What I’ve created so far is a header for the page using a simple, glossy sort of plastic look. This might change at any time, whether it’s by addition to what is here or subtraction. By next week I might hate it and try another approach, but it’s a start:

Originally Posted on August 4th, 2007

Up until a few months ago, I had no idea we had such an abundance of knowledgeable people in the Peoria area. Why, not too long ago one of them announced to the world that their logic was infallible. Another claimed he was able to debunk any opinion or argument that he disagreed with. That is just knock-your-socks-off impressive, if you ask me. I’ve heard a number of claims in my time, but it takes real cojones to say that everyone is wrong but you.

The Peoria Journal Star has been called many things over the years, but since they’ve implemented the commenting system on their news articles, we can add another one: an intellectual haven. Yes, the degree to which we’ve progressed as a society since its inception has been astounding–dare I say, we’ve entered a new age of enlightenment.

Before long, we’ll pick up a newspaper and be greeted by the headline “PJStar.com Peanut Gallery Solves Poverty!” or “PJStar.com Users Fix Everything, EVER!!!” Before I became a regular visitor to that site, I had no idea that the problem behind every social ill was because of Democrats, Republicans, liberals, white people and black people. I also learned, through the various contributions of family members of criminals or people under criminal investigation, that the person charged with the crime is always innocent, always a good person, and was always right in the middle of turning their life around. In retrospect, now that I’ve been infused with the wisdom of these local savants, it all makes sense.

I’ve even opted to throw my hat into the ring at considerable length from time to time; a fact which I intend to vehemently deny later in life. My piddly contributions, all of which were debunked or logically impossible according to the smartest of the bunch, are nowhere near the caliber of excellence commonly contributed by the smart masses. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for daring to question these people. They know it all, we don’t.

…

Some of you have known me to go into long diatribes on PJStar.com. While I stick by most of what I’ve said, it doesn’t excuse the fact that I was senseless enough to be roped into it in the first place. I assure you, I’m ashamed of every contribution I’ve made. For days I’ve been googling psychiatric help for “addiction to redundant stupidity.” If any of you wish to refer me to someone, my gratitude is yours.

Don’t get me wrong. Healthy debate is great. Of all the freedoms I enjoy, the ability to share and discuss ideas is near the top of the list. It’s good that Peoria now has a place to provide feedback in a quick, modern and visible (albeit, knee-jerk) fashion. My hat is off to Jerry Smith who diligently monitors the boards to ensure things don’t get too out of hand. I also appreciate his openness and bluntness when dealing with the aforementioned “savants” and their accusations that the “evil, liberal Journal Star” is conspiring to silence their views, some of whom believe it’s their god-given right to post them there.

That being said, the amount of garbage that people contribute is simply harrowing. Whenever there’s a crime, particularly in the problem-prone areas of the city, there is always an overwhelming response. Every time, there are six sides that partake. The first group is the “can’t we all just get along” group. These are the ones who, whenever race is mentioned, reflexively drone on about how it doesn’t matter what color our skin is, we’re all human, we’re all Americans, we’re all equal, etc. While they’re right on a basic level, one portion is simply trying to keep the peace while the other is mindlessly parroting what has been fed to them. Their intentions are good, but they are in the minority.

The second group is similar to the first group in that they’re not overtly bigoted or malicious, but they are willing to talk about race as a topic without breaking out into a crescendo of white/black supremacism nor finger-wagging and judgmental sermons while holding hands and singing “We Are the World.” This group is also in the minority.

The third group is usually the least represented–the ones who leave comments on the article instead of, as much as I loathe referring to it as such, “debating” with the others.

The fourth portion, often as outspoken as the groups to follow, cries racism at everything. “This article is racist!” “No, you’re the racist” “Everybody here is a racist! (except me)” They are white, they are black, they are everything inbetween. They, as a group, contribute the least to the discussion, in my opinion.

The fifth and sixth groups can be summed up as follows: it’s the blacks’ fault or it’s the whites’ fault, respectively. These two make up the largest subsection of responders when these articles appear. The Journal Star staff have gone so far as not to even mention the race of the person in question when writing their articles, but it does no good. Much to the chagrin of those involved, Mr. Smith will often disable comments on the article and be done with it. I can’t say I blame him.

…

Some of you will read this and say,”reno, you damn hypocrite! You contribute to the various debacles on PJStar.com as much as the people you’re complaining about!” To that, I concede on principle: it is true, to an extent. Overall, I think I’ve done more good than evil, but I personally think it came to a peak this week when I helped contribute to the complete derailing of discussion concerning the inspection of Illinois bridges. I wasn’t the only one, of course, but I couldn’t leave it alone. It was a slow day and my fingers were aching for something to do. So to preempt the hecklers I will lead by example and STFU a bit. My sense of trolling has limits, you know.

Rodney King is often misquoted as asking,”Can’t we all just get along?” To the esteemed mavens who’ve been sharing their enlightenment with the rest of us through PJStar.com, I ask,”Can’t we all just shut up?”

Originally Posted on August 2nd, 2007:

Blarg : A word that means anything you want it to.

e/n : Everything/Nothing

From urbandictionary.com :

Blargen : Anything that has to do with anything.

Blarg, in most contexts, is used to express exasperation. E/N is a genre of websites that were about everything and nothing at the same time–it was during their era that blogs as we know them truly began to flourish. I like to think of these as being the root words for “Blargen,” which is anything that has to do with anything, which is exactly what this blog is about.

In the past, whenever I’ve taken it upon myself to start a blog or website, I always seem to arrive at the same questions: What is this about? What is the site supposed to be? Is there a message I’m trying to convey? What is it?

How could I narrow what I wanted to do down to a single interest, that was my problem. Politics and current events, technology, philosophy, gaming, literature; there were so many to choose from! Or, I thought, what if I want to relay an anecdote to my readers, or share something I’ve learned or simply reflect on life itself?

I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a site and blog again for many months now, but was stopped at every one of those questions. It’s easy to start a project with good intentions when you have no direction. Likewise, it’s difficult to maintain a project when you want to do something outside of its scope, which is what brought me to my current conclusion:

Why give it a scope at all?

What a liberating idea! Of all the toiling I’ve done in trying to come up with an image, the most obvious answer was right there, all along. What can you expect from me? What can I promise to deliver time and again? Dear reader, I leave you with this:

BLARGEN! BLARGEN! BLARGEN!

…

That wraps up the mandatory introduction post. I’m also working on my website, at long last. The name, naturally, is blargen.com