Of “Hello world!”

“Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!”

I’m going to enjoy editing this post.  Last night I watched the Season 4 premier of Mad Men.  Don Draper was asked (by a one-legged reporter) the following question:
“Who is Don Draper?”
I very much agree with his response:
“What do people say to that?”

What Don didn’t realize is the reporter was doing what most people expect him to do when he profiles someone: setting them up for their chance to “sell” themselves.

So to address the following question: “Who is Tony Teesdale?”
The answer is complex, for certain… but overly blunt.
“I’m not a whore.”

Strange answer you may think, but what did I just say about that question? The prompt provides an opportunity to sell oneself to an audience.  Unnecessary.
I say I’m not a whore because I will not sell myself.  I have no need to make a “pitch” about myself.  So why is that relevant to my “Hello world!” post?

This blog is going to challenge the typical understanding of typicalness.  We have attributes that characterize us all for certain, but where did they come from?  Are these attributes we pride ourselves on because someone told us we fit them? Or have we at length analyzed ourselves and come to the conclusion that our behavior fits that model? Or perhaps out of social insecurity we assigned this attribute to ourself in prevention of someone realizing that we do not possess that attribute at all, and may in fact be he opposite.

In this blog I recall Francis Bacon, who wrote many essays with titles of “Of Revenge” or “Of Studies” (my favorite) and will attempt to honor him by titling my posts as such.  (Which I guarantee will result in nerdy humor.)

So, despite these “Hello world!” posts being prompts for “selling” your blog and self to the world, I will do no such thing.  Reading this will let you learn about me in a more intimate way that you could if I were to sell myself to you.

However, this will be a learning journey, so do not expect strict consistency throughout.  Also I am a changing man, learning more and more about myself as I grow older and wiser (measured in minutes and hours, not years), so timeline-ing my posts and characteristics will not grant you a consistent, stable character.

So to re-address the question “Who is Tony Teesdale?”
I say to you: “It is the question that drives us, Neo.”

Hello, world.
-AJ