For someone involved with the WWW since the very early days, I have been surprisingly slow to create an all-out web presence for myself. I've existed up to now using various and sundry bits of web-space when the need has arisen, but there are obvious limitations with that mode of operation. I've long had it in my mind, that if I were to ever start my own software company I would name it something along the lines of "Rain or Jet City Software/Games/Productions/Studios". I like the association of both "Rain City" and "Jet City" because, whether most Seattleites realize it or not, both of those things (the inclement weather and Boeing) are deeply woven into the psyche of Seattle and its residents (more so than the late 20th-century associations of coffee, Microsoft, and Gore-tex).
I firmly believe that another thing firmly woven into the psyche of Seattleites is losing sports teams. Our perennial losers: the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics, have bred voracious (although sardonic) fans that will live and (mostly) die with their sports teams no matter where in the world they eventually migrate to. I firmly believe that this legacy of losing has infiltrated the collective consciousness and in some ways is more powerful than that experienced by the natives of Chicago and Boston (cities that have had numerous successful sports teams over the years). Seattle has had one professional championship (not counting the WNBA championship last year); the SuperSonics, occurring the year I was born. One championship in the history of the city! I don't think there are fans anywhere that can claim such an iron-clad understanding of losing.
In short, Seattle is a place of desperate melancholy. A place of pervasive and sometimes beautiful despondency. Or maybe I am just depressed due to our 20th cold drizzly day in June. People I work with often comment on how funny it is that native Seattleites bust out the shorts, t-shirts, and sun dresses on even a moderately sunny and warm (i.e. > 60 degree) day. The reason for this universal phenomena is because when someone from Seattle sees a sunny day they assume it *will* be the last one, and if they don't take advantage of it they may never get another chance.
Anyway, I have deviated from the point of this post. The point is, I have finally broken down and acquired a domain name, and that domain name reflects a core part of who I am as a native of the great Northwest.
