Of Bicycles, Biographies and Bits

Welcome to the first post of my new blog, the one I have in my own name. I've been blogging under a pseudonym for years now and I think I'm finally getting the measure of the medium. Blogging can mean many things. For some it's a diary, for others it's the bulletin board of their lives. For a few blogging has professional significance. You say Blogger, I say Columnist. Let's call the whole thing off! I don't think I'm at that level. I'm somewhere between the narcissistic autobiographer and the ex-newspaper columnist groping for a new identity in the age of open and networked self publishing. The title of this Blog refers to a fascinating book on the history of technological development, Of Bicycles, Bakelites and Bulbs by STS scholar, Wiebe E. Bijker. This is a must read book in my opinion. You can enjoy it as a simple(sort of) history of now familiar technologies. If you read the theory sections and wrap your head around them, you come away with a new understanding of the societal frames which structure technological development. On another level, the title tells you what this blog is about. I'm a big time cyclist. I use bikes the way most people use cars and I do a lot of recreational riding. Every blog is necessarily biographical so that's where the 'Biographies' part comes in. Lastly, I've been an Information Professional for more than twenty years now. Man, that part freaks me out. I've been doing something for twenty years! How'd that happen? Currently I'm a PhD student in waiting. Come Fall, I'll be poor, stressed and happy as I sweat out UCLA's program in Information Studies. The topic for this week will be forgetfulness and its role in memory. Sounds strange? Read on. It'll either become clear or confuse you like never before.