Shane Jonah Michaelson is not my real name. I chose it because it sounds perfectly normal... Nothing fancy, just something that identifies me in my new eLife. As of this moment on 7/15/2002 Google assures me that no one named Shane Michaelson exists online. That's good enough for me. Why would I chose a name whose main benefit is that it is completely unremarkable? I am not a criminal trying to turn his life around or anything like that. I'm just a regular guy who has spent enough time online to gather a very small group of admirers and a smaller though decidedly more vocal group of detractors. Quite frankly I'm tired of that history. I could easily zap it into the ether with a press of the button, but I also respect that history and want it preserved. I simply don't want to live that online life anymore.
I recently finished reading The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of writings from the late Douglas Adams. It's a shame that he left us so soon. His final half-novel is all setup and promise with no conclusion. His clever way of setting up all the dominos in seemingly random order to surprise us with the final result has left us only to wonder what he ultimately intended. There are snippets of Beatles lyrics, references to half-cats and the distinct absence of a salmon of any kind. Any other author and we might be able to extrapolate and estimate where the plot was to go. With DNA living we had the promise of a humorous and unexpected journey, but without him our trip ends abruptly with no alternative but to pack up and go home.
Here's a good review of Salmon of Doubt at SciFi.Com that I found by way of Raath.org::Of Marginal Interest.
7:21:02 PM 
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