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Zeldman has made proper comment on an issue that I expect to keep hearing of with the rise of these soapbox/diary/mating-dance/resumes that are blogs.

Read it in his easy-on-the-eyes yellow & orange under 23 April 00 , Political Correctness Online. [Oddly, he has none of those Kottke Breadcrumbs to anchor to. Now that's a busy man.]

Short quote: "Folks, it's your web. Do as thou wilt. Design as thou wilt. Say what you mean. Link as you like. Self-censorship through fear of being ostracized from some imaginary inner circle is not what this is about – and is just as dangerous, in its way, as censorship from without."

Yes, but.... we're just starting to build these imaginary inner circles.... We like to be cliquey. We declare our individuality by our choice of association. Yes, I mean exactly the semi-paradox I just said. It's the curse/advantage of being a social animal.

And, thick-browed primates that we are, we do get lost in our own games sometimes. People start to believe that if they're not on the net, they must be a dog. So we need someone like Zeldman to whip out the <bette midler>Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke</bette midler> zen bat. Let's lighten up a little.

Which brings me, believe it or not, to what I INTENDED to talk about [cut to a geek wearing a Hades Ashphalt t-shirt] : Why is it, on the Web of all places, I cannot find Things For People Who Look Too Close?

You know. A secret link to a little note that someone might or might not ever find. Deliberately secret places that are meant to be found, but only by those who are looking for a secret. I don't mean hacking. I mean finding a bookshelf that is actually a door, a door into a catherdral, a cathedral which is filled with photo albums of a fictitious land, and it all has been hidden, in order to make it more special when they are found.

In software we've got Easter Eggs, which are okay, but quite minor. Besides, we tell everyone about those. A hard-won secret cathedral you are only likely to share with a few.

If I type in www.yourdomain.com/secret.html, I kinda hope I'll find something. Maybe even the start of an entire unmarked directory to explore, ala infiltration.org. [which REALLY ought to have its own 'secret_door.html' -- how about it ninj?]

So where are the merry pranksters of html? I kept thinking that something has to be there, and I'm just missing the clues. But lately, I've become sure no one is doing this. We've gotten so hung up on telling everyone exactly who we want them to think we are, that we've forgotten to tell a few secrets to some chosen ears.

Let's build some secret places.

"the Cat went back through the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone, just the same as before. But he never told anybody." --Kipling

[Admission: All right, I haven't put any trap doors on this site. Yet. Would I lie?]

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