Christopher James Willcock

Metronomes are interesting little devices are they not? All they do is tick and tock, back and forwards, in a steady beat. Well, technically they may be not doing that at any given time while still being a metronome: if they are on the shelf unused at the time or being used as a cudgel or something! But if they do anything other than sit there unmoving, it’s likely they are a-tick-tocking. In the classical metronome, there is an arm extending from a base. A small weight on the arm is adjusted farther up, away from the base to slow the beat or closer down to speed it along. Metronomes have been around for a very long time- records of early attempts at the metronome go back to the 800s¹.

I have a soul full of music. Which is to say, there is a mystery in me. I know of it because when I hear a steady tick and tock, I can’t help but add something. It may come as whistle or tap, lyrics or hum. Sometimes a tune springs forth from nowhere, fully-formed and affable! My children surely enjoy it. This has gone on so long now, that even an unmoving metronome has an effect. As I listen very carefully, when the dull roar of a beard growing is not so loud in my head, I can sometimes hear a little thump-a-thump in the chest that reminds me of a metronome. I am a devout listener to this sort of thing, so I tend to feel this productive vibe much of the time.

I have a head full of technology and science. Which is to say, I believe in empirical truths about the nature of the world and my place in it. I am a utilitarian in many things, eschewing novelty in favour of diligence and productivity as a matter of course. My chosen career in software development requires an evidence-based modus operandi² which I have occasionally applied to the subjective experiences of my daily living. It makes for some interesting Gedankenexperiment³ space, to think for myself about the cultural history of peoples and nations!

I have a little space of my own on the Internet where things I have had in mind from time-to-time are recorded for others to consider in their own quiet moments. Where I can participate in a unique culture like the world has never seen before. There are records of where I have been and what I have accomplished. Yes, it is more or less empty at the time of this writing and it appears I have done nothing whatsoever.

But oh how empty! What a sweet slice of nothing I have. How superbly light and free from cruft; from advertising; from surveillance; from usurpation; from the not-me-ness that is in-your-face in some other places online where we may go together.

Speaking of together, have you heard of the IndieWeb yet? I do recommend you have a look, for yourself.

“There are going to be times when we can’t wait for somebody. Now, you’re either on the bus or off the bus. If you’re on the bus, and you get left behind, then you’ll find it again. If you’re off the bus in the first place — then it won’t make a damn.”Ken Kesey (1968)⁴

Tick-tock friendly stranger.

1. Metronome, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metronome#History
2. Modus operandi, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modus_operandi
3. Gedankenexperiment, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_experiment
4. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Ken Kesey, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test