The Underworld Of Writing

Me in the early blogging 2000s.

T he thought entered my mind how, as far as I am aware, none of the gay Atlanta bloggers from the early 2000s, besides myself, are still around. As I have been republishing my twenty-year archive that was offline for some time, I have been thinking about that time and that group of online writers.

My old site twenty years ago was called My Daily Education or MDE for short. My slogan was "uncovering queer Atlanta." I used the word "queer" because it seemed edgy then, but now it has been adopted into the mainstream and I cringe at its usage. I wrote about nightlife mostly, wild nights, music, film, protests, travel, strange characters from local gay history, I awarded the best and worst of the city in gay terms, Atlanta and whatever else I wanted. I still write what I want, but my focus has changed with the times and my  interests. The wild nights ended a long time ago, but the writing continued and diversified.

I suppose this makes me the old guard of gay Atlanta bloggers.

 

At The Masquerade in the glory days of blogging. Taken from my old site, My Daily Education. Photo by me.

 

There were several of us in our twenties and thirties writing fearless and whatever we wanted. We pounded the keys and pounded our way through the clubs such as Jungle, Heretic, Blake's, WETbar and other places. Legendary Backstreet was still around, but it was being killed by the city about that time to make way for a shiny and soulless condo tower. We would chat, drink, dance, sometimes flirt or gossip, but mostly enjoy ourselves like a small cadre. We were the upstarts against the established gay media that sugar coated everything. Then they tried to co-opt some of us, including me, to write for them. I did do that interview that said something about how blogging would die and we would move to something else, which turned out to be true. I also did do some writing for the gay media so I suppose they got to me.

 

A screenshot of that interview in the 2000s. I do believe I would not have considered myself fabulous nor do I ever recall using that word.

Where did my fellow gay Atlanta bloggers go? Our little underworld of writing we enjoyed went poof! Social media was never able to capture the spirit of blogging and aided in making people's attention spans shorter. Also, Twitter and Facebook made people more snarky and turned them into meme speakers which requires no original thought or even words.

One of the banners from my old site in the 2000s.

 

Social media killed blogging and I am not writing much about Atlanta anymore or even living in the city, but those were good times on the internet. I cannot even remember all of their names, though I wish that I could.

 

Not only did blogging die, but look at the pathetic state of gay media in Atlanta today. I am not certain local gay media serves a necessary function anymore.

 

Underworld, Sola Sistim

Easy Like Wednesday Morning

Chet Baker was pulling the covers off my ears this morning. It was easy to slide out onto the patio and welcome the day. Coffee in hand at 5AM I was out in the mild and damp air. Spring is coming when those morning lows are in the upper 50s and the daffodils are earth bound stars screaming from their roots that soon it will stay warm.

Inside I came, booted up the laptop and took in the round of blogs that I read almost daily. I read many blogs even though I comment on very few. It doesn't mean that I don't like or enjoy them, but I like to play spectator and enjoy them without any need for my participation.

I read blogs of all persuasions. I may not even agree with the content, but if the writing is compelling and you can tell the author puts thought into what he/she writes I'll become a fan. I'm most fond of blogs that create original content. Unfortunately most blogs are just content recyclers that post YouTube videos, silly quizzes or links to stories produced by the mainstream media. So I'm a picky snot, but I've always been that way.

One blog I read is written by a Swedish guy who does inspiring photography. No matter the subject I find his work draws me in and makes me think. He often does artistic self nudes, he is a cute guy I must mention, that are sexy but not in the least trashy. Though the one of him peeing against the wall in some Stockholm alley might put some people off. I believe his work to be daring and even John Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is a fan of his.

This morning I am sad to learn that an author of one Atlanta blog is very ill again. His story is a sad one and unfortunately not all that uncommon. It is written by a twenty-two year old that is HIV positive. His viral load is extremely high and his Cd4 numbers have dropped drastically. He's extremely close to possibly developing full-blown AIDS. Naturally he's battling depression and his blogging has been sporadic for the last few months. I only recently discovered his blog back in the Fall but he's been writing since early 2005. I've enjoyed reading his story and hope that he can battle on.

One last blog that I've enjoyed reading for years is written by an older gentlemen in North Carolina. He owns a bookshop and writes several blogs. The one I regularly read discusses sex in a mature, honest and unflinching manner. His blog isn't vulgar like sex blogs typically are but instead he actually makes sex an intellectual affair. His writing is easily accessible and I bet he'd been a good person to sit have a cup of coffee cool over conversation.

Last year I said that blogs would vanish within five years. I still think they might but I hope the people with interesting stories to tell find a medium to keep expressing themselves and sharing no matter what the future might bring.

As for me, whether it is interesting or not, I'll still hopefully be here typing away.