In my moving notice yesterday, Rory made reference to my odd rules for capitalization. As many folks know, my name does not have capital letters in it. When i was going through the process of changing my last name (and cementing the non-capitalization of my name), i did a lot of thinking about rules around capitalization in general. It always bothered me that “I” was a special case in english. Of course, i find it inherently indicative of the culture that we live in.

Well, it bothered me enough that i decided that i didn’t need any capital letters when i refer to myself. Not only is my name not capitalized, but i’m not that special. Plus, one of the main reasons to capitalize the letter was to typographically indicate it in a culture where everything was handwritten. In computer-land, it’s easy enough to see it separate from the rest. Of course, i still believe in capitalizing certain things – those of importance and letters at the beginning of a sentence to indicate that a new sentence is about to begin. Wouldn’t it be a bit funny though to start capitalizing You since i definitely believe that You is more important than i. Tehehe.

I will refrain.

Fact of the matter though is that my capitalization rules are just part of my quirks (except for that associated with my name, which are due to my mom’s quirks).

Wow. My friends descended alongside the two Irish boys and moving just happened. Seriously, it was the smoothest move i’ve ever witnessed. So many people, so many beers and just a lot of positive energy. We wisked through my old house, moved it, cleaned it and voila, i’m now in my new room! The new place isn’t fully unpacked, but it’s full of danah color and i feel like it will be really good. I feel calm, relaxed and happy to be in my new home. Now i just need to start processing all that has been forgotten in my recent whirlwind.

I despise moving. With a passion. But, here it is, moving day. Luckily, i started packing last nite so it’s not going to be a complete disaster. Of course, all of my friends look at my place and freak, noting that i’m a complete pack rat. Today, a chunk of my friends are going to converge, drink some beers and play with the Irish men i hired to do some heavy lifting. This outta be interesting. Soon i will be in Amazonia, living with my cat and good friends. Yay!

When one presents oneself in a public space, one is constantly trying to negotiate their presentation of self to give off the intended perception. Based on the reaction one gets, one changes this presentation.

Lately, i’ve been doing enough press interviews or other discussions such that people have been writing up quotes by me or otherwise processing and projecting my ideas. Sometimes, i read a quote by me and i recognize it; other times, i recognize a word or two, but feel completely misrepresented. Overall though, it’s so peculiar to see myself in someone else’s article, to see how someone else digested and processed my presentation of ideas. I find myself reading my own quotes and arguing against them, disagreeing with different points. It makes me wonder how much of what i say is really heard. It also makes me wonder how other people must perceive me based on supposed quotes by me. And finally, it makes me wonder what model of danah is formed when people read my blog, which is at best a haphazard collection of links of importance to me and other arbitrary thoughts.

In any case, i’m quite humored to be able to critique myself.