the danists

Dear Readers,

Here are the much anticipated answers to the week long riddle. First, let me start by saying - No one came close. There were shadows of the right answer, but they were out of context. Second, your responses to each post altered the next. The first post, you were all caught up by the symbolizism and you forgot the little things like, "the laughing man". So in the next post, I pared it down to just statistics. I left out all the "color" from the second post and just went with "facts". That post screwed with your heads so much that I just went to a normal style post for the last one. I tried to keep it on the level, but the final post was almost universally misunderstood as a "dating" post and I began to think I was going to have write another installment that would specifically address that issue and clear up all the confusion.

I enjoyed this process immensely. It told me a lot about my readers and what you generally see in my posts and what type of people you are. I liked reading your emails about what you thought about each post. I was shocked that, again, so many of you thought these posts had something to do with you personally. There was a lot of maniacal laughter on my part. I secretly enjoyed all the confusion that was created and I really enjoyed the massive amounts of anticipation that you expressed. Although, a few of your guesses had me questioning my sanity as well as the condition of yours.

Here are the answers, which I'm sure will meet with just as much scrutiny as the original posts....


The doors:

This post represented the DECISION MAKING PROCESS of what I write about. The laughing man is me, the person making the decisions is "the process". The voices behind each door are the inspirations for a varying types of posts. Gold door - family/home. Mirror door - friends/honesty. Velvet door - sexual partners/fantasy. Iron door - the unknown/courage.
When you choose a subject, you can play it safe or you can take the harder path. Your choice either sits well with you or it mocks you. What lies beyond your decision can never be known until unknown elements decide that for you.

The diners:

This post represented the READERS. This post is YOU. The types of readers I have. It's a percentages game. Women to men. People with a sense of humor to those that have none. The ones that comment and ones that never comment. Etc. The chairs was a stretch but it was meant to show education levels. The drinking comment was a nod to illiterates. The clustered table is to show that there is no organization to the writing, the reading or the comprehension.

The relevence of me joining the diners and asking the question: I don't get to share in the experience the same way the readers do. As the creator, I know "who dunit" and if the good guy wins or if the bad guy dies. So joining in would only ruin the surprise.

The departed:

This post represented the POSTS. How I feel about each one when they get posted and are on their way out into the world. The posts are written and they leave "me". And as soon as I have created them, they are gone. Sometimes I cheat them and I give up on one because it's too hard to finish. That's when I leave them.

I hope that what you take from this experience is a better understanding of the type of reader you are and what kind of bastard, devilish imp I am. Please send all the "Oh, I knew it all along" emails to someone else.