Onward!

Sunday, January 4, 1998 by Dave Winer.

Open your eyes!

I hope I've done some of that in the last couple of pieces.

http://www.scripting.com/mail/mail980101.html

And thank you for opening my eyes!

Happy New Year! 

Tomorrow most of us go back to work. Me too. I'm going to write some software. Some new stuff to try out with XML and remote procedure calling. It's 1998. That's what's going on. Looking forward to geeking out for a bit.

Have we reached closure on gender issues? No. But hopefully we've learned something.

Lines and rules 

I recognize that there's a line between us that separates us into two genders. It's like a lot of other lines that separate people: skin color, height, employment status, sexual preference, marital status, financial wealth, education, religion, age, ancestry, the kind of computer you use; whether you work for government or a private company; have kids or don't have kids; were first born, or an only child, or the youngest of six; whether you're a child or an adult.

I'm a Taurus and a type 8. What's *your* sign?

You get the idea. The list of lines goes on and on. And the lines are real. We may wish they didn't exist, but they do. We do not have a choice. We are not empowered to erase the lines.

The lines are coool. They create friction, desire, heat, art, lust, passion! It's good stuff as long as people are fair and responsible and play by rules.

When people accuse others of breaking the rules, especially across the lines, it gets so confusing! That's why the death penalty is such a difficult thing to parse. Make the punishment fit the crime? That says a lot about who we are.

The more empowering the rules, I think, the more responsibly people act without rules, the more joy there is in life.

Thank you 

The first few days of 1998 have been an incredible growth period for me, and I hope for you too.

Let's have fun this year!

Peace and Love,

Dave