hyper-textual cocktails

            When birthed into the electronic world, hypertext became both a vitamin and flu like symptom for the online reading breed.  After a revelation, I had put a finger on exactly what hypertext reminded me of. In my mothers clothing store I would go into the dressing rooms and look in the triple sided mirror. I would not just see three Henrys, but an endless repetition of my adolescent self. I would grow frustrated that I could never see the end of this endless reflection. While online hypertext does not inflict frustration, the intangible vastness of the hyper textual world is something that people are seldom able to fathom. This vast endlessness of the Internet is where people can decide if it is to them, flu or a vitamin. When viewing The Museum, both the flu in and the vitamin came to me at the same time. While frustrated that I could never possibly explore every crevice of hypertext on the page without going mad, I was also visually frustrated. After a few clicks, I had no idea where I was in the museum. Trying to imagine how I got there I looked longingly at the ironic map of the Metropolitan museum on my desk. Why was there no map of hypertext? Perhaps its because we are meant to get lost in hypertext. If no one got lost who would feed the beast? This beast though; does he leave us helpless at his feet looking for some sort of escape or helped, in a conversation with his infinite knowledge.

            The idea of an online novel with hypertext sparks interesting questions that can only be answered subjectively, however I have a few theories on the matter. Consider the idea of hypertext in a novel a substance of alcoholic sorts. This “cocktail” will be served by an the virtual bartender we call the eBook. Some will choose to refrain, pledge sobriety, perhaps reminiscent of the hardcover book. Some will drink responsibly and use the drink to simply further enjoy their evening. Some will indulge perhaps a little too much and wake up with a hangover that leaves them with a blurred line between hypertext and the novel itself. The alcoholics will become addicted; forgetting why or what they were actually reading and simply clicking and glancing at the hundreds of pages before them. Drinking in volume rather than quality will leave them eventually passed out with nothing to recall despite viewing so much. Age is a factor as well; the young and inexperienced will be more likely to view irresponsibly and find themselves with an improper mix of novel and hypertext. The elder and wiser will simply click one or two for reference. The internet bottle that hypertext is encompassed by can be opened by everyone, it is however how they choose to use this literary aphrodisiac that will send them to prison for a DUI or a wine tasting gala in Napa Valley.