Short FAQ

Ø What the … is a TJ?

TJ is short for Text Jockey, someone who uses language like a DJ uses music and a VJ uses pictures - to entertain and to influence the general mood of the public. I can work together with DJ’s and VJ’s, to create the perfect party.

Of course, I also work alone and off-line. Texts can be appropriate where dance is not, i.e. at conferences, receptions and other non-dancing parties, in waiting rooms, during lunchtime in the office, in shop windows, in airports and railway stations - anywhere you want, basically. And one of my favourite places to be is the World Wide Web.

Ø Anything against old-fashioned print?

Contrariwise, as Tweedledum would say. I love to read books, poems, anything in print on paper. I’d love to see my words in print. I’d like to discuss publishing proposals based on print. So the TJ may become a modern-day author as well.

Ø Who is Random Factor Y?

I call myself Random Factor Y. Like the medieval painters of saints, I do not wish to sign my work with my own name. This name belongs to some person, some set of social roles. These texts belong to the reader, and to me as a TJ.

They are meant to hint at insights, try to give you a glimpse of your own fact-or-y. And by the way, the word ‘fact’ derives from a Latin word factum, meaning ‘a thing that is made’. So most facts are made. And I am a maker of memetic facts, a factor. In short, 21^st century English: a TJ.

I am a male, carrying the XY chromosome pair. Don't ask me why Y. It just happened at random. I could have been one of the possible combinations of those zillions of other sperms and eggs my parents carried in their gonads. All kinds of terrible and more beautiful potentialities that failed to become 'me'.

Ø What has this TJ to offer?

The work of Random Factor Y consists of texts. They can be projected, sung or spoken, added to the music, they can be printed on leaflets and T-shirts, sent through cell phones and emails, be added to a screen saver or whatever, but the essence is the ASCII file. Computer letters, like written letters, which can be copied and read and reproduced, one after another. Memes. And More Memes. Lots of them. Ton loads of weightless, virtual prose. Short statements, mostly, but if you want longer texts, Random Factor Y has got them. Poems, pages, books, whatever you want. All written by yours truly. Original stuff on many subjects, in many moods, ranging from easy jokes to incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo and everything in between. About life, about people, about science, about magic, about God, about sex, about computers, about Goddess, about feelings, evolution, creation, and lots of the (other) things we love to hate, fear to like, be shocked to know, forgot to forget - in short, about almost anything but your most secret fantasy (maybe). Some samples can be found here.

What all these texts have in common is a certain playfulness, a light-hearted outlook on life and a tendency to doubt almost everything. They are meant to inspire lateral thinking, to stimulate the creative parts of the brain and to escape the limitations of our routines. I think this a good moment to add my disclaimer: none of my texts are meant to offend anyone. They might unintentionally hurt your feelings, especially if they are about things you'd rather not doubt or smile about. Please accept my apologies if any of my texts make you doubt things you want to be certain about, or smile inappropriate smiles, or have immoral emotions, whichever the case may be .

Ø Stand alone or online?

Many applications of Random Factor Y’s work can function perfectly without human intervention. A presentation of the texts will run in a shop window or a waiting room and the TJ may not even be aware of it (which is fine as long as you respect his copyrights). But on other occasions, the TJ will be there to add his personal touch to the presentation. Online, so to say. At a party, I can provide the VJ with the necessary textual elements to spice up the performance, synchronised to the mood and the music of the moment.

The texts can be a peripheral phenomenon, just pay attention to them if you are not engaged in other activities, or they can be the central focus of attention. If you want to organise a meeting or a workshop with me as your TJ, I’ll be glad to guide you through an experience of pleasant semantic disorientation, which may help you to solve problems, build your team better or fulfil your other goals. I can be physically ‘there’ if you are willing to pay extra for my travel expenses, but I can also be present through the use of our many telecommunication technologies. Just get in touch and we’ll work out the details.

Ø How do I get more information about Random Factor Y?

Browse this site. Or send me an email at textjock@hotmail.com .