I admit it. This is a rather playful column. But then again, just when isn't it? And since when are "serious" and "playful" regarded as antonyms? To my mind, the two go together quite well, thank you. Playing around is a means of discovering meanings and connections, and that's what hypertexting (did I just create a new verb?) is as well.

But though hypertextual networks (pretty much by definition) don't have centers around which their various connections revolve, they do have points of focus which identify their meaning. Those focus points are on the whole subjective - the organizing principle of the network is first and foremost in the mind of its creator. Others are free to link into it, or into part of it, and in that way bestow new and additional meanings to the network. But at it's root, when you delve into a hypertextual network of seemingly disconnected elements, what you're looking at is the dynamic thought process of its creator. In this case - me.