About dangerousmeta!

Subjects covered.

The range is broad, shifting slowly, constantly over time. But a few things remain foundations ... art and photography, design, applied digital technology, environmental issues, local New Mexican 'color,' political rhetoric. In short, eclecticism whilst searching for originality of style, perception and utterance.

Who writes this?

My name is Garret P. Vreeland, and dangerousmeta is my personal weblog. I own and operate a design studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico with my wife Sandra as my partner. I handle web design, audio, video and photography, while she handles graphic design and illustration.

History of dangerousmeta!

The official 'birth' of this weblog is a little complex. I actually began posting chronological entries via content management system on my business website in mid-1999 with Userland Frontier. So my personal history of 'weblogging' really begins there. When Userland debuted their Manila weblogging software, and set up the free Edit This Page online community in late 1999, I jumped on the bandwagon to learn how to use it. Thus, many consider my 'official' entry into weblogging as December 22, 1999, when I joined that group. This site was called "array.editthispage.com" back then. The Wayback Machine can show you some highlights, since Edit This Page is now offline.

Eventually more content management systems appeared, and my curiousity got the better of me. I made a switch to Zope [a Python-based CMS] late in 2000, which was also used for the first 'Behind the Curtain' project, arguably the first community-photo-weblogging venture. I switched to the uber-popular Movable Type in August of 2004, and it served wonderfully until January, 2004. Being the oddball that I am, having the 'popular' weblog software didn't satisfy, and I switched to less-popular (at the time) WordPress, which allowed me to utilize my PHP skills more discursively. Lately, in December of 2007, I decided to switch my site to Expression Engine, in order to concentrate on one CMS for both work and pleasure. It is now running with EE 1.6.1, with significantly enhanced features from other CMSs. I am currently using EE for all my client projects, and I'm very pleased with the results. I must credit Chris Ruzin for bringing the advantages of EE to my attention.

Personal info.

When I read a weblog, I like to know about the author. Character can be made manifest if the writer is skillful, but more commonly background information gets parceled out very slowly over a long period of time. We live in a short-attention-span society, so I will give you the quick rundown on myself, so you can judge of my opinions better.

I weigh around 185, am 6'1" tall. I'm 48, and I still can't figure out where my 30's went. I am married to the svelte, lovely and patient Sandra, who is not an aficionado of weblogging. But she will, from time to time, cheerily play a photographic Passepartout to my Phileas Fogg, so her influence reaches the metacosm eventually.

It is common knowledge that children rarely venture far from the political opinions of their parents. My parents were Democrat, yet my adopted grandfather was a steadfast Republican (until Nixon let him down). I like to think of myself as a rationalist and a humanist. My historical religion is Dutch Reformed on my father's side, Southern Baptist on my mother's. I have spent 99 [and 44/100ths] percent of my time away from religion, and most of the time I spend in churches is for photographic purposes only. I prefer the Founding Fathers' "Nature's God."

I am also a member of the ninth generation descended from Michael Jansen Vreeland, who travelled from Texel in the Netherlands in the ship 'Het Wapen Van Noorwegen', arriving in New Amsterdam (Manhattan) in early August of 1638. He and his family were one of the only survivors of the Hoboken Massacre; family oral tradition credits the fact he illicitly traded furs with the natives for his survival. Tracing into the Netherlands has been unsuccessful. On the maternal side, seemingly untraceable Tennessee Cherokee; or at least, we can't correlate those with obvious Native American ancestry to the rolls. Add to that the common Southern Scotch/Irish heritage, and a smidgen more Dutch hybridization. Don't they say that mutts and mongrels are more hardy? I hope so, at any rate.

Any life is the story of many journeys. I grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, lived briefly in Knoxville, Tennessee, and am now in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My life's occupations include the care of many foster children (I have diapered more butts than you, no matter your sex), postal clerking in Big Bend Nat'l Park TX, casting porcelain at Edward Marshall Boehm in Trenton NJ, pouring prestressed concrete at Southern Cast Stone in Knoxville TN, building slideshows for CBS Records NYC, updating Control Data financial databases at Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook & Weeden in NYC, teleprompting for many in the Fortune 500, winning individual Telly Awards for my work as video graphics artist, video production, video editing, and direction for Comart Aniforms of NYC (I also spent too much time cleaning up after Roscoe), freelancing TVL video graphic speaker support in NYC, freelancing 3-D animations in Form*Z and myriad rendering packages for various tri-state clients. I continue to ride the wave of computer technology.

Why 'dangerousmeta'?

Post-9/11, a certain subset of people seem to view the name of this weblog with trepidation. There was a warning posted in late 2000, to be on the lookout for 'dangerous meta characters' in your code. After a long sleepless night of programming, I looked in the mirror and saw such a character. Thus was born the name of this weblog.

Further, we who took part in the early years of weblogging believed we could change the world, make it a better place, through a keyboard. At least, I did. My opinions on world events are 'meta-' opinions, opinions of opinions, since our sources of information are, at best, second hand. Given the fact that I'm commenting so far from the original facts, and with a slant that is not necessarily mainstream, I humorously interpret that as the 'dangerous' in "dangerousmeta!".

I should know better than to tell a joke that needs to be explained; prior to 9/11, such explanation wasn't necessary. I get asked about it regularly now. This displays how fearful a society we have become. Go out and read some Edward Abbey, and damn the current fashion of lily-livered propriety.

Why the biohazard logo?

Once again, after 9/11, I frequently found myself having to explain this, also. My use of a modified biohazard logo long predates the anthrax attacks on the east coast of the United States. It is a personal joke, really, to illustrate the name of this weblog appropriately. Consider it a harmless bit of weblogging surrealism.

Do you make money from this website, either by promoting products or ads?

This weblog generates no money. Any products I wax eloquent about, are ones I enjoy using. If this situation ever changes, I will be sure to inform my readers. I handle requests for photos I've posted, and web design projects. As of January 2008, I offer some of my photographic work for sale on this weblog. Some might consider this a second-hand form of income from the weblog, but the amount wouldn't keep a cockroach in fashion jeans for a year. I do not believe that every single bit of information needs to be, or should be, monetized.

May I use some of your graphics or photographs?

If you ask permission, or pay for the privilege. No linking graphics from my server, please. Not unless I give you specific written permission to do so. All creative works are © 1999 - 2008, Garret P. Vreeland, All Rights Reserved. If you see something you like, feel free to drop a note [garret - at - dangerousmeta - dot - com]. I usually have something much higher resolution on my hard drive, ready for use, that will serve your needs much better.

What else?

Ah. Smile spontaneously, and do one nice thing for someone else each day.