no.1 - blog ennui

Lynda Barry has a magnificent book called "100 Demons." In it, she uses a Japanese painting exercise to illustrate and explore 100 metaphorical demons from her past. It has been several years since I first read the book and I have often thought it would be an amazing exercise.

I did not want to copy her, but I thought that if she could derive inspiration from a 16th century zen monk named Hakuin Ekaku, then why can't I derive inspiration from her?

The hundred demons, often represented on parade, seemed like an excellent blog format, allowing me to explore things that are irksome, vexing, infuriating and just plain wrong — the perfect exercise for someone raised with a talent and an eye for complaint.

But 100 demons did not seem enough. With only 100 demons, I could blog twice a week for a year and it would be over. Surely I could show more ambition than that! So I added a zero. 1000 demons, it turns out, also has significance as a buddhist test in which one must enter a room of 1000 demons and find the path to the other side.

Besides, 100demons.com was taken.

But lets face it. Most blogs last no more than a few months. Many, only a week or two. It is easy to get inspired to blog, but even easier to be daunted by the seeming necessity to update frequently and well.

So, here is to the first demon, who I intend to see defeated, nine-hundred and ninety-nine posts from now.