Peek-a-boo!Nathan St. Pierre.com
Labels are infinitely useful and annoying. You can't go five minutes into a social interaction with a stranger without being asked what you do for a living. They might ask what you do for "fun." If you're anything like me, it's really hard to explain either of those. So instead, you simplify.
I'm a web developer, I might say. I write novels and develop games in my free time. I got my degree in music composition.
The truth is that as convenient as these labels are, the thing they do best is file you in a convenient box for indexing by a search engine and collation by a collector of details about you. I can't express to you how depressing that is.
To me, this is a problem. The machine of the internet is so incredibly effective because of one major reason: chaos. Each piece is unique in its own way. Each of us is a little different and has different strengths and weaknesses. To me, that's beautiful.
But, that's just the kind of person I am.
