The time is ripe for a big idea.......

(posted by Ken)
First, I apologize for the length of this posting. But it is important, so I hope you all read it....

There was a reason why I was so all fired up and eager, I just realized, to teach you guys how to blog. It's amazing how close Chris and I came to registering at the same time, I had been to the site and began to do it, but got distracted. My impetus, however, was not so much the Hashimoto Herald as it was to write a book. I recently have been on a fierce writing binge, a retroactive journal of sorts. It's actually about my trip to Mexico because a classmate had been bugging me for 2 years to write it all down so he could make a movie outof it. Now, I don't think that will actually happen, but for all my own reasons, I'd been wanting to write this and other stories down, so I really appreciate that he bugged me so hard. Anyways, I wrote about 20 pages (in small handwriting,which means about 50 pages of word document), and I'm not even halfway through the story. While I was writing, I was having so much fun that I began to jot down random thoughts,and it dawned on me that we really need to document our strange family history , NOW more than ever, because we are starting to forget little but important pieces of the big picture. Now more than ever because web technology is perfect for our story.

This is why:
Any time I try to tell any story to anyone, I am constantly having to stop and explain more history, or Japanese culture, or why it's so funny when dad says one of his dad-isms, or what the vet-o is, or why we would bid fiercely for Maggie's bellybutton lint. It gets so distracting, especially stricken with attention deficit disorder, that I tend to forget what I was talking about. What one needs, is an infinitely large book, with bookmarks that allow you to jump to the glossary to find out what a torikaysh is, or what we actually meant by "re-shen to me!", and then resume the main story as time allows. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HTML IS FOR.

I went on a bit of a tangent explaining how to make a link, on the blogger site. I ended up apologizing because it seemed too much. Far too confusing considering you don't know how to post a picture yet. But I realized later that it is absolutely crucial to my take on the idea.

Consider this neat feature :(and this is purely just a random example) In the middle of a paragraph which is telling the story about the time we almost burned down the barn at Mom's farm, I would have to stop to explain why we call it Mom's farm, why Chris was in a cardboard box, what a zabuton was, etc, etc. But if you made these mysterious words and phrases live LINKS that you could click on to get an explanation or a background story, you could continue without interrupting the flow of the story. Of course, the juicy part is, the links would contain their own links. Click on the zabuton link, it takes you to the page that explains what it is. That links to the story of how we used to ride the zabuton down the stairs. This links to other dangerous games, like the "jumping off the playhouse roof" club. Then this links to who exactly "Ham Larson" was, or the history of the playhouse, or the amazing day we played on a wooden box in the Hanson's yard, and this links to who the Hansons were. etc, etc. Pretty soon, you can't remember where you were, and you have to kind of start over, but you don't mind because you had so much fun.

AND THIS IS THE HOOK!!!

I have tried writing our story many times in the past, but always had to quit because it just wasn't flying. The main problem is that there is a big danger of writing a long boring story about the Blanzers. EVERY GOOD STORY NEEDS ADVERSITY, A PROTAGONIST, AN UNDERDOG, A TRIUMPH OR A TRAGEDY. The other big danger is the temptation to embellish in order to provide some of these very crucial elements. And to do that would be a crime because so many things are already so hard to believe, like Dad showing up in a Domino's pizza outfit. If there are any lies or exaggeration you have tainted the whole story. And our story, on it's own, isn't really a story. It is simply a very interesting and very complicated, interconnected, highly nuanced chain that has no beginning and no end. It just can't be captured in a standard paperbook. IT HAS TO BE DIGITAL MEDIA. Like Seinfeld, the story is that there is NO STORY. It is a web.

This, by the way, is a genre that is just coming into it's own. There is even a name for it, a "blook". And they have awards for it. Usually it is just a standard blog site, a journal or collection of thoughts, that gets passed on by word of mouth and chain email, and it gets popular without one cent of publicity expense, no agents, no publishing costs. The chain link idea is purely my own invention, my theory and reasoning for why the Hashimoto story has to be a website is pulled right out of my head...I don't know of any precedent for it. Which is also why I think it is so exciting. I truly don't care if there is any fame or money to be had. My biggest reason for doing it would be because it's fun, and because it's important that we remember this stuff. And to pass it on to our kids. I know that Mag, you have always been passionate and effective about telling Christian and Chloe about pieces of the past, but I'm sure it is onlythe tip of the iceberg. We need to collaborate.

I am so excited, I was going to do it myself, I have already begun. However, it would be much more self sustaining in it's momentum and complexity if you guys could help. Not only to help me remember, but to provide your opinion, or your side of the same story.That in itself can be another hook...the same story told by different points of view. Truly the possibilities are endless, because the story is endless. Name one book that is different every time you read it. No such thing. But this one would be.

Think about it. And as I repeated so many times already....just do it. Participate even in the smallest way, and the contributionto the overall momentum is invaluable. This blogger site could be the natural source of raw material for this blook, but I already realize this cannot be it. The blog is essentially one long page. The blook requires that separate incidents be on different pages,in order to link them together. But I can take care of that part. I just want you all to contribute to the blog, get some buzz going. I should mention here that even if you are completely unable to do the blog thing, please write stuff down and email it to me, I would be glad to post it for you.

Oh, there is one other reason why digital media is so appropriate. All of the most interesting stories lead back to dad, or are heavily linked to him. And whether we like it or not, whether we intend to be mean and cutting or not, most of it paints him in a negative light. I could not bear the thought of a massive book of unflattering stories about him becoming famous. I had often said that such a book could not be released while he is still alive and able to read. And that would be a shame, he is probably going to outlive half of us, so essentially we could not ever write or release it. If the story existed only in cyberspace, however, we could show him only what we chose to show him. Even if someone told him about some part of the story we wanted to protect him from, it would not have been like we were deliberately hiding it from him. If he really wanted to, nobody is stopping him from getting a computer or a library account.
See how much I'm writing? I'm out of freakin' control here. I should'a been a writer.......

OK....GET WRITING!!!!!!!
Kenbo