Mission, Disclaimers, Miscellany
The Long Shot exists for two primary reasons. One is to share stories of people who are engaged in autonomous media projects. Two is to provide a place for me to share my thoughts and perspective on a myriad of topics that pique my interest. The need to create something on your own is a strong motivation for so many people, including me. Often these projects are fraught with risk, difficulty, and low odds of success. The Long Shot exists to give a detailed view of the people striving to make their visions a reality. By networking through social media, specifically Twitter (a public forum) and Facebook (a private forum), i hope to find these adventuresome folks and not only connect with and learn from them, but share what they're doing with readers. At the same time, i'm building a body of work for myself that includes not only these interviews, but essay-style features on things i find interesting. This is all done in a way that is clean and easy to follow, and provides multimedia such as video and audio, and links to allow further exploration. In each post, i work to present the information in a conversational, friendly, and informative way. Also, i strongly encourage readers to look up any terms or words used if the meaning is unknown. Language is a fascinating thing and allows for very succinct communication.
Readers will notice the use of the lower-case "i" in most cases, when used as a pronoun. This is not by accident, but rather by design. In my very first post, i mentioned that ever since learning about the proper use of "i" as a pronoun, i've thought it strange that it differed from its fellows he and she. In an effort to create a level playing field among the pronouns, i've taken to using the lower case pretty much exclusively. That being said, i certainly understand that it is not the accepted usage. In that first post, i posed a challenge to readers to find conclusive evidence of why we capitalize "i" in English when used as a pronoun. As yet, there has been no response. Since that time, i've done further research and found some historical context for the reasoning. But, astute readers will remember i wrote that i'd reconsider my position pending evidence. After reviewing my own research, i have a better understanding of the origin of "I." On the other hand, i've grown very fond of the little "i" and will continue to use it, except when part of a quote (or if used in a professional capacity). If i have to conform a little bit sometimes, so be it.
Lastly, something that has been pointed out to me repeatedly over the years is that i tend to write rather long pieces. This is not news to me. Brevity is something i strive for in neither writing nor speaking. This is not to say i'm against editing my work. Far from it in fact; i re-write/edit/tweak things at least two or three times. But i don't like to take information away. Whenever i do, i feel like what is left is lacking something. Readers may remember my discussion on life in the universe, where i included the long form of an article that was published in my school's student newspaper. The published version was edited and did not contain any of the scientific facts or figures that Long Shot readers were privy to. While i was happy to see a byline, the published article sounded more like a rambling opinion than what i intended to be a thoughtful article with scientific support. Also, in regards to The Long Shot, it's on the Internet and space is not a limitation here. Certainly, i understand the ever-decreasing attention span of our culture. But that does not mean i have to curtail my thoughts and words. Perhaps someday, if i find myself professionally employed as a writer, i'll cowtow to the demands of a culture without more than a minute to spare reading. In the meantime i'll subscribe to the philosophy that it's better to have more and not need it, than not enough.
And after all, it is called The Long Shot.
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