what the devil is going on here? Or, we discuss what this site is about

At Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood and LizzieSiddal.com, I explore specific art in a specific time period.  I enjoy it, I’m passionate about it, but I wanted a space where I could be creative and let loose.  I don’t intend this to be a personal blog, so I don’t blog about what I just ate or other daily minutia.  There’s a plethora of that online and it serves its purpose, I suppose, but it doesn’t fit in here.

Why Medusa Eyes?
When I was four, I used to yell “Medusa eyes!” and open my eyes as wide as I could and stare at people.   Apparently I thought this was hugely funny (it was probably annoying).  I wasn’t familiar with the Medusa from mythology at that time –  I had seen the Disney movie The Rescuers and was amused at how large the character Madame Medusa’s eyes were.  Years later, when I had outgrown my silly game, I developed an affinity for mythology and folklore.  It struck me as ironic that as a child I was forcing people to look into my eyes, eyes that would have turned them to stone had I been the actual Medusa.  So, when I was choosing a name for this site Medusa Eyes seemed to fit.  Isn’t that what we’re all doing here on the internet?  Saying  look at me and sharing our lives and thoughts, creating social profiles, spewing our opinions in an effort to forge an online identity that may or may not accurately represent who we are in our offline world.

I wish I could be that type of super-organized individual who could sum up her website in a nifty mission-statement.  But that’s just not me.  While I may seem to have a definite goal that shapes this online project, I think I’m just muddling through by holding onto the idea that I just want to create.  I don’t want to be one of the nay-sayers who sits by grumpily and criticizes creativity while silently brooding that they could have done better, only they never tried.   I harbor no illusions about this site–some people may like it, which means we may have things in common and similar interests and so I mentally thank them and hope that we’ll also be friends elsewhere (like Twitter or Goodreads).  Other people may think that this site is drivel, in which case I shrug and think that they are probably right, there’s nothing here for you, please just move on.   One recent well-meaning visitor sent me an email criticizing my choice of user name on Twitter and offered to help me with such important things as Personal Branding so that I can somehow be admitted into the elite group of bloggers that he described as “really making it” and “achieving household-name success.”

Um, no thanks.  That’s nice and all.  And success would be a pleasant occurrence.  But I’m willing to bet that his version of success and mine don’t add up to the same thing.  I simply must be myself and share myself on my own terms, without personal branding  or gimmicks or some sort of magic formula.   Because all the very best things in my life have just happened that way and I see no reason to shift gears.
“Someday we’ll find it. The Rainbow Connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me.”
—Kermit The Frog