In 1959 Norman Mailer published a book with the title ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MYSELF. That was the year I started college. I remember reading the book back then but nothing else except the title. Which brings us to myself.
The full title of my main site and of this journal is Self-portrait in the Present Sea so there is truth in labeling. Both sites are about Webb Chiles. However I have observed that lately I have frequently been writing about videos and words that others have produced about me. On the lines page of my main site you will find: Define yourself or others surely will. In fact they will even if you do define yourself, but having done so yourself can keep that in perspective.
I confess that I am pleased to have ‘legendary’ routinely applied to my name, though that may just be a courtesy for having survived so unexpectedly long, and to be told that I have been an inspiration. However I am uneasy about self-promotion. I paused to think about that and let it stand. Like all writers I would like my words to last. I am pleased that some I wrote a half century ago are still read. I cooperate with those who make videos and write about me in the hope that some will discover Webb Chiles through them and read my words who otherwise would not have. I also find proof in their works that I am not entirely delusional about myself. Or at least if I am, some others are too. And I like to direct attention to sites I admire. So if you have not had a surfeit of Webb Chiles, here is more.
Majikwoid is a new site by the almost anonymous Gary Simoni who wrote to me not long ago asking permission to use a video that I did not produce and could not provide. He had a previous site which is linked at Majikwold, but the ‘about’ section is blank except to mention the two sites. I have learned a little about him by reading entries at Conversations With a Hypoxic Dog. And yes I looked up ‘hypoxic’.
Majikwold has only six entries which demonstrate a wide ranging mind: an osprey; the songs of whales, which has a great final sentence; Mussolini; an excellent song which I had not heard, ‘The Bulls’, sung by Jacques Brel; Lawrence of Arabia; and me. They are all well written and interesting. I have added the site to those I check each afternoon I am ashore.
The piece about me is most original and includes quotes that though I have read Marcus Aurelius and Henry James I did not know.
https://gvsimoni.com/2025/03/12/a-conformity-to-intelligence/
ARGO is a magazine published by Steve Walbrun ‘about sailing art, literature, and history’. Steve wrote to me asking permission to use some of my words, which I gave. I did not know that he had already written a piece about me. I visited the ARGO site and find a lot there of interest other than me. I have bookmarked it as well.
I thank Gary and Steve. I admire what both are creating and wish them success however they define it.
2 comments:
Thank you for yet another interesting post Webb! No surfeit here, keep em coming! The links are worth a read for sure! Much appreciated! Stay safe in the impending stormy weather!
All the best,
Rich
Thank you, Rich. I went back to the ARGO site this morning—I have already read everything at Majikwoid—and found many articles of interest, including one about John Steinbeck’s first novel about Morgan the pirate which I have not read. I spent a vast 99 cents and bought a Kindle Edition.
I also saw on the site’s ‘about’ page a drawing by Winslow Homer of seamen taking in sail on a tall ship that reminds me I would not have done well during that age of sail. I don’t like heights.
Of the front, I expect, or at least hope, that it will be much weakened when it reaches us tomorrow than it was in the middle of the country.
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