: : : : : : : : h a n d p r i n t : : : the oldest personal sign : : handprints appear with paleolithic paintings in caves & on rocks : where humans practised hunt and harvest rituals 400 centuries ago : : in the same spirit this is my invoking place in a twist of the digital cave : : : : i've put here images and words that celebrate or atone: words that express who i am : images and texts we share as strangers : in this electronic space : : : : this is a personal not a public web site : handprint is for adults only : some content may contain language or themes that are sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate for minors : : : : the web is a remarkable medium for self expression : witness the over 30 million personal sites on the web today : these continue the spirit of amateur watercolorists diarists naturalists musicians and belles-lettrists of centuries past : individuals who seek self discovery by pursuing knowledge or artistic skill : : : handprint is a learning experience for me, the author : it reflects my effort to use web publishing as a vehicle for skill development, personal exploration, and spiritual clarification : : : the beauty of the web is its standardization around the concept of a document (the web "page") without any standardization in the way documents are linked together : the rhetoric of web media consists of self explanatory pages branching into open ended narratives -- dreamlike, socratic, interwoven : because the web fundamentally embraces these opposites, it is the supreme learning medium : : : most commercial or "well designed" sites use clutter to conventionalize web experience, but learning is itself a journey between structure and lack of structure, the familiar and the unexpected : rather than design away confusion, this site combines images and texts with little guiding signage : : in this way, your confusion and searching follow in the footsteps of my own (though pages, once mounted on the site, never change their URL) : this place unfolds with your reading and my hacking : : : : handprint is designed for viewing in a browser window 800 pixels wide and 550 pixels high. Use this grid to check the size you are viewing now : i rarely use animation, sound or massive graphics, because i'm not interested in the rhetoric of television, and i like the idea of bandwidth conservation. all code has been tested using both Netscape Navigator 6.0 and Microsoft Explorer 5.0 browsers on computers running Windows, NT and Mac OS 8+ operating systems) : : : you've probably come here following a search engine or external link : those words or links create our temporary bond : so explore whatever interests we share : : because everything that we cannot share : : : will eventually : : : : pull us apart : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :