I originally got into blogging because it was a spreading phenomenon that involved technologies I knew and loved. As secondary incentives; I have always enjoyed writing, it’s a great creative outlet for web development and design, and blogging may very well give my descendants a familial history that will not otherwise be recorded in any books. A personal Wikipedia, if you will.

So here I am, more than three years later, assessing my blogging passions.

Of particular importance is my interest in a legacy. I am passionate about telling my story. Above all else, I trust that my musings will pass along a message that I cannot reach into my own ancestry for. That message will be a referential perspective to those in need of familial comfort. If we are to know the answer to life, the universe, and everything, we are to know our history.

It won’t be elegant nor abundantly enlightening, but the importance of having these recorded scraps of memory will one day prove to be some of the most cherished objects of a future generation. My own son will grow up in a revolutionary time when his every move is captured in startling fidelity – he will undoubtedly take for granted the provisions I aim to establish. But in his times of personal discovery, he will be able to look back on his own thoughts in perfect clarity; as well as those of his father. Perhaps he will see it. Perhaps it will be his children, or his children’s children…the estate of the future is a collection of intellectual capital, and there can be no greater treasure than knowledge.

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Tangents aside, the 16 tips that John Pozadzides offers are decent enough, if not mostly well known. I did find one real error in John’s ideas. It doesn’t take into consideration those afflicted with Pudding Brain. I hit Thoof on his list of aggregators to read – one I hadn’t seen before – and got really stuck. It’s one of those new-fangled aggregators that automatically load more items as you get closer to the end of the scrolling page. You can waste a lot of time there!

There’s something to be said for focus. Hitting the hot spots on the web for news is well and good, but it’s probably more productive to focus on those places that can offer you something to comment on, rather than simply steal your attention away from what you came there to do. Sites like YouTube, Thoof, and even Digg (though less so for me) are real time sinks. When it comes to blog idea hunting, I have more success trusting my own RSS aggregation. It may have a lot of the same stuff, but it’s interspersed with other sources and is slightly less accessible because RSS is abstracted from the website. I also like the idea of hitting the unpopular sites our there with very specific information to get ideas. It’s more likely to be original and it’s probably something you’re very specifically interested in.

Now, that said; I haven’t been inspired to write about much lately. But it’s not so much about my sources as it is my own intentions. The number one tip for blog idea brainstorming is this:

Take an interest in what you have to say.

If you have no interest, you have no story. You can see right through a post that is paying lip service to its readers by reposting content someone else has written. John mentions in his tips that he goes the extra mile to do some research on topics he is reposting. That’s exactly the right idea in my mind. He’s taken an interest and is providing original commentary on a popular topic.

So in between original content I fill in with interesting things I find elsewhere, or current news events. But I don’t just re-post other people’s content.

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Now that we’re seeing eye-to-eye, the subject at hand is *metaphysiology. It’s long been a tradition of man to contemplate various superhuman states. Superheroes (ergo Comics) were born of this fantasy with the metaphysical realm of possibility. I too have long sought after the perfect superhuman power. The age-old question is simply, “If you could choose only one superhuman power, which would it be?” Isi and I just had the same conversation and came to the distinct conclusion that further analytical discussion should ensue.

Invisibility has long been one of my favorites, though I’m reconsidering based on some further examination. Invisibility provides the ability to conduct mischief, avoid trouble, and launch an unstoppable offense. The caveat being that you couldn’t wear anything to be totally invisible. You may also be lost forever if you die while invisible. I also question what invisibility actually entails. Is it that light passes and reflects through you, or just that light is wrapped around you? If it’s wrapped around you, then there’s the distinct possibility that you *could* wear clothing. The area of effect could be a condition of your power put into the effect. Also – if it’s a field, then presumably something could enter that field with you. To keep from being seen, you’d need multiple layers of this field to prevent discovery. From an anatomical standpoint, you might have a broader range of vision because there’s nothing to obscure it like eyelids.

I’m not sure if I’m willing to consider Invulnerability as a superhuman power. It would be quite fantastic, but doesn’t have a limitation as any human trait should have (even super). Limited invulnerability would be helpful, but should be something fairly explicit. For instance, invulnerability to fire, direct physical impact, or perhaps just agelessness. Agelessness could possibly be one of the more obvious choices, but careful consideration proves that this may just drive you insane. Agelessness means that you live forever given normal care, but may die from anything that would kill normal humans. That just means you couldn’t go and sleep for 100 years to recollect your sanity.

Perhaps an important element of the *human* in superhuman should be to consider vulnerabilities into the mix. Every superhero must have an Achilles heal, as it were.

Fireballs a la Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and others, would most likely just get you in trouble. And in all likelyhood would not be enough in itself to rescue you from the perilous danger that would come to anyone throwing fireballs willy-nilly. But of course, throwing fireballs might indicate that you are impervious to fire itself. If you are impervious to fire and can generate it, it’s not without reason that you couldn’t engulf yourself in flames. Not only that, but perhaps you don’t require oxygen to breath either. If you’re surrounded by fire, breathing is going to be quite labored and not suitable for any kind of hero.

These are but a few that we talked about today. The idea of metaphysiology is simply that you think through the exact mechanisms by which the power is available to you. Its limits, strengths, vulnerabilities, and repercussions should be included in any proper study. After some consideration, I think I’ve narrowed down my perfect power (and you Ze Frank fans will know that I am considering a Power Move from this)…

If I could summon for you now a particular image of ‘Lucky.’ It would be a preternatural luck in that perhaps you’d reach a state of seeming invulnerability by the shear fact that luck always rides at your heels. The downside is that you don’t know when you’re luck will fail you, but at times it will. I’d love to make a comic book hero out of this concept – perhaps a retirement project.

My long-time love belongs to the power of Communication. A superhuman power of communication would involve almost a telepathic ability to understand and communicate with anyone or anything (capable of communicating) in a way in which the subject is accustomed. That would mean you could speak any language or dialect assuming you were in approximate contact with someone that spoke that language (phones and Internet would not work). In advanced states, I imagine the power as being mostly a telepathic ability; having the ability to communicate either telepathically or physically.

What powers have you dissected? What powers do you have? If you’re blogging *metaphysiology, please link back here and don’t forget to tag.

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Turns out it’s very near Hell out there today. I hear tomorrow will be worse, but by golly, we’re going again. We’ve had to take a break from the festival while Amy and Balthazar nap. I generally don’t like taking naps, so here I am blogging instead. It may be near 100° F, but I’ll still belt down some coffee. Perhaps today is an *iced* coffee day.

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An epiphenomenon is a secondary phenomenon that occurs as a result of another and remains a complice. In the blogging world, you might attribute the photo-blog as an epiphenomenon to the weblog itself.

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