The Blog I Didn't Start in 2003

I attended the Comdex conference in 1998. I remember it was 1998 because Bill Gates was doing a demo of Windows 98 during his keynote and got the Blue Screen of Death during his talk.

I thought it was funny.

I sat down at a random table to choke down one of those conference sandwiches in the cellophane wrap that tastes like it was an unused spare from the moon landing. There was only one other person seated at the table, and I felt like I should introduce myself and make some small talk, so as not to contribute to the stereotype of technical folks being antisocial. The other person was Doc Searls, of Linux Journal fame.

I remember that we talked about Linux a bit, although he was more focused on the people side than the command line. Most of our conversation was around writing. I wrote for the school newspaper briefly and once considered becoming an essayist— someone who could elevate conversation and probe what matters most. I reconsidered this plan after some introspection revealed that I was uncomfortable with the idea of being a starving artist, eating beans out of a can with a plastic spork.

In 2003, I ran across Dave Winer's blog, Scripting News (http://scripting.com). I recall that he was organizing BloggerCon, which had this theme of being an "unconference" where the attendees would provide more of the content rather than the more traditional Sage on the Stage style. Blogs were becoming a thing, and I wanted to carve out my own plot of cyberspace. I thought it might be a low-risk way to live out my dream of elevating human consciousness and unpacking essential issues as a side-hustle. No beans. No spork.

This idea for a domain popped into my mind: howlingbeagle.com. I don't know why, but I felt like when the creative muse strikes, you really have no choice but to listen.

As I have discovered later in life, it is often the case that the creative muse and the Fates of What's Possible are rarely aligned. Someone had already taken that domain.

I low-key stalked it. I figured that at some point, the Internet domain gold rush fever would break and someone would lose interest and forget to renew the registration. It appears that someone still has it to this day.

Twenty-two years later, it occurred to me to make an accommodation to myself. Perhaps an adjacent domain might be available, something that preserves the original spirit of the Muse and also appeases the Fates of What's Possible. Lo and behold, TheHowlingBeagle.com had been waiting for me the entire time.

Truth be told, I kinda like it better.

So, here we are, fast-forwarded in time. The mojo of 2003 and the vibe of 2025 are coming together. I have my plot of cyberspace (of course, I can't call it that now – too cringe) and my platform to, you know, yell into the void.

Welcome to The Howling Beagle.