I don’t need a brand name.

To hell with branding.

It’s as bad as people with one name. I place links on my page, mostly as a convenience to me. If other people are curious about what I’m looking at, that’s great. I confess I get a little thrill when someone links to me, not because I think it might in any way increase my pitiful traffic, but because it means that at least someone might find some amusement from my daily notes.

I don’t care what you call me, I’m just flattered if you do. Not that it matters, but the blog portion of the site is actually called “this Public Address.” Most folks seem to like my domain name, so that’s fine as well. I have never made it a secret who I am, so it doesn’t bother me if you call me by my name either.

Sometimes I call myself a writer. Sometimes, other people do too. There’s a certain amount of discomfort in that, but it’s okay. Writing is work. Blogging is play.

Sometimes I call myself a photographer. Other people have used that label too, because I’ve spent about a quarter of a century doing it. But I’ve always disliked that label as well. Mainly, because most people who call themselves photographers have absolutely nothing in common with me. Rex had a good distinction about that: there are a lot of “owners of cameras” out there. Taking pictures is fun. The pretensions of photographers are not, especially those who consider themselves to be “photographic artists”

Artist is really an empty term. Anyone can flip a light on and off, or hold a paper up to the sky with a hole torn out of it (a piece by Yoko Ono). Ultimately, I like to think that we’re all artists, when we open up our eyes and make meaning in this world.

I refuse to advertise products.

I prefer to struggle each day to make some meaning in all this. I refuse to talk in code; I prefer to deal with things straight, head-on, and without pretense. I hate funky spellings, twisted syntax, and compu-speak. If it shrinks my corner of the web, so be it.