Ever since I've had access to the internet, I've messed around with it. We first used AOL, when we lived in Louisiana, had dial up, and a mac performa computer. I had a geocities website. Actually, I think I had a couple, but I kept forgetting passwords and/or got bored with what I was doing with them, so instead of deleting and redoing I'd just start another one (it's much the same with my house; when one room is messy, instead of cleaning it I move on to the next room). But I realized at some point that it wasn't good to keep moving around, as far as the internet is concerned. I still have every intention of moving around as far a physical, tangible location is concerned (apartment over the Med, you will be mine). Online is different tho, and I think it was probably going to Austria that helped me see this. I was ready to up and leave my life behind again, disappear to mid-Europe for ten months, and needed a way to keep in touch with people that I could continue to use, hopefully with the people I met abroad once I got back as well.

So that's when I started using my .co.uk email instead of AOL. July(ish) 1998. I've been richeperkin online ever since. I go by Rich, E's my middle name, and Perkin doesn't have an 's' on the end. And for some reason, anyone from Eastern Europe has always called me Richie for some reason, so I guess it works at that level too.

Now it's more than that. If I'd have ever thought I'd spend as much time as I do on the computer, I'd have taken classes. I've have waded in when I had geocities, instead of dabbling. I'd know what all the abbreviations and programming terms mean. And there's still some hope for me, I think, but I'm fully expecting the next time I see my nephew Aiden that he's going to start teaching me html whatever number we'll be on by that point. He's a couple months old right now.

One thing I did do is buy richeperkin.com. I'd become that in my emails, digg, facebook, any online presence I have, and I've never met another one, so I figured why not? I bought it, with the intent of shutting down myspace.com/richeperkin and starting a real blog. But then there was all that code, and learning how to do CSS, so for the past couplea years the domain sat with a nice little holder saying it was waiting for me to move in.

And now, the branding is a step closer to complete. Feeding off a friend's enthusiasm and motivation, I'm finally moved in to my new (online) apartment. The view's not bad, and the neighbours are pretty laid back. Weather's nice too, no need to run the a/c all summer.

I took that analogy too far, didn't I?

But my point is, and I know I've taken way too many words to say this, but creating a persona online is important. Especially when you're someone like me, who as yet isn't really anyone known by the greater populace. But with writing I intend to change that, and I want people to know who I am rather than remain some far-off, aloof figure. I want people, specially with this blog, to be able to hear me saying what they're reading. I want to create my virtual brand as similar as my real-life brand as possible, maybe leaving behind some of the less select parts.

So I know reading this doesn't seem like much of a change from my other blog posts if you've read those, except for maybe the new theme. But it feels like a big step, to finally have stuff at ground zero for richeperkin. Despite all the bollocks that tries, on a daily basis, to grind me down, depress me, or piss me off, I'm feeling surprisingly upbeat about this. There might even be room here for a couple of short stories, you never know.