The right amount of ambiguous

This post was in the works from the moment I created this blog.

I finally found a name for the blog that is something other than my name. I know, my name is still on there… I can explain.

My name was a good place to start off with for the blog in order to bring my Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook… you-name-it accounts back to the same place and have it all make some sense. But never, for a moment, did I think that it would be  the sole thing to let those who might read the blog  know what it was about. Assuming, of course, that anything I might have to say would ever interest anyone.

My problem in giving the blog a proper name was that I wasn’t sure what exactly I was writing about. Guilty. I’m a hit-the-ground-running sort of person (on a somewhat relevant note I also eat pizza the other way around and start with the crust) and failed to follow the step-by-step procedures for blogging that make it clear that you shouldn’t start writing before finding a purpose based on the audience you are reaching out to. I knew this much – I enjoy writing, I read a lot of what others write, I watch / listen to news and I’m really (shall I say ricidulously?) interested, curious and in touch with the ongoings of social media, the Web and the changing technological landscape that is reinventing the communications industry and our society.

I realize that this describes a lot of people out there so I knew it was important to find my own voice and reason for b[log]eing within such a broad scope.

It hit me the other day when I was watching TV with my friends. To make a long story short, I annoyed them (and I say that in a loving way) when I mentioned something about Twitter, that I had read on Mashable that sort of related to what we were watching.

“One track mind”? Nah. That wouldn’t have been a good name because I try to be well-rounded. It just happens that I’m the token geek in the group and the only one that knows Twitter isn’t a mixed drink.

I did realize that I like to take things in and any time I see/watch/hear/you-get-it something – anything – I find a way to tie it all back to communications, the Web, social media, technology, public relations, my life… those things I am most passionate and make an effort to learn more about.

I thought about “Taking it in” but decided against it two seconds later when I noticed how many inappropriate connotations it could lead to. Some people clicking on my blog from the results of a Google search may have been quite disappointed.

flickr user: etohaholic

I let the subject go for a moment and picked up The New York Times crossword puzzle. As usual I worked my way through it. I filled in the words I knew and guessed the words I didn’t know the clues for by using the letters of seemingly unrelated words to help me out. Eureka.

I once wrote that my favorite words were collaboration, sharing and drank. Well, throw integration in there.

I find it fascinating when I see how much integration happens at all levels and all aspects of life and how much it helps us make sense of our society’s “big picture.” I”m talking “Beatiful Mind” sort of stuff here… minus the conspiracy part.

This post hereby makes it official, “Down and Across” is the blog’s new name and it’s just the right amount of ambiguous so that I may still write about all the things that interest me from (hopefully) an original point of view (my point of view, which explains why I kept my name on there) and that will make it worth wrtiting and taking the time to groom and improve on it more and more.

The best part? Crosswords. Newspapers. I love that I found a name that references something I am hugely fond of and have great respect for.