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You have heard me hatin' on it many times. If you want me violent, do it to me.
Just about anybody is welcome to voice whatever opinion or comment they have here... within certain bounds, of course. If you are going to ignore what I've said or brought to the table in order to do it, you might run into some bumps. If you are really only trying to take out your frustrations on me or other commenters, couching your abuse in some stupid excuse or prefacing it with some darling self-deprication, it isn't going to work.
For a long time I didn't even have comments on my blog, not wanting to take up more of people's time and being heartily sick of the shit slinging at Brad's place... and WINTER'S place. Even though I know that less than one percent of a blog's readers ever comment, when I started getting a number of emails about posts on my blog I decided to open comments. Some of you remember the good old days with HaloScan. That was short-lived, and I have done nothing but miss it since its demise. It was perfect for my needs. Perfect. I don't like the commenting system on this platform, but it is better than the alternatives just now. I don't want to make people go through the rigamarole of having to be signed in to whatever in order to say something, and so that option is still available here. If you just sign whatever screen name you want to be known by here when using the "anonymous" function, that is perfectly okay with me.
I'm happy for you to retain your anonymity as long as you can be distinguished from other anonymouses, and you aren't playing games, trying to say some things as one person and other things as someone else. A lot of people pull that crap, and it never turns out well. It's also another form of passive aggression... and I'm not going to stand for it. If you want your day ruined, just pull that bullshit on me, okay?
This is my blog. It's a big mashup of things. It's partly a scrapbook or diary. It's partly where I subject people to my photo manipulations. It's partly news links. It's partly learning links. It's partly Out There. It's partly about an effort to get you to think differently for a moment or an hour. I try to remember what my friends like and link some of that for them. I spend a lot of my time online. It is increasingly my mode for volunteering since my no money doesn't stretch far enough for much regular use of my car, and so it's pretty easy for me to duck in here and post something for whatever short posterity links stay hot or what I have to say stays pertinent. This blog is pretty much the cyber version of my home.
I don't put up with passive aggression in my meat-world house either. In fact, if you think I'm fierce when you start fucking with me or my friends here, you should get a gander of it in person. I don't even have to touch you. You'll be on your butt or running hard before you know what hit you.
Don't get me wrong. I am happy for you to disagree with me if your disagreement is genuine and respectfully submitted. I'm happy for you to ignore whatever doesn't interest you here. I do hate that you can't focus enough to listen to stuff I think is important, but c'est la fucking vie, dudes. That is definitely your lookout, and... ahem... your loss.
I had a big old hairy fight with one of my oldest friends here a while back. He pissed me off so badly we'd've had to take him to the ER if he weren't nearly 300 miles away. He doesn't like to listen to anything. He's practically deaf and prefers to read. But he was coming in and making blockheaded comments in a patronizing way on stuff he hadn't listened to at all, wasn't paying any attention to at all. He's killer smart. He can, and does, make whatever pronouncement on whatever subject and always sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Only, here, he's busted and I broke a couple of bricks over his head to make sure he got it.
Have you got that? That's someone I love as much as me. I do not take that shit.
When I make a post proposing you do a little thought experiment with me, set aside your own attitude to listen to someone you'd no doubt never listen to if someone hadn't suggested trying it, you don't get to not listen but come in to dis the snot out of whoever you didn't bother to listen to. Not here. That is trolling. That isn't genuine. It's, at best, gratuitous self-illustration at someone else's expense. If you bothered to do the thought experiment, or tried but couldn't last through it, you are completely welcome to talk about that! And you do not have to agree with me that there's value in the exercise. That is valid. That is good faith communication. Even if you are too thick to grok the difference, go work out your ego problems somewhere else.
News flash. I love to be told when I'm wrong! I don't want to live my life deluded about anything, and wherever I can fix that, wow, I am giddy with gratitude for the help. No shit. But, also, unless you are prepared with some persuasive evidence up front, don't be surprised if I don't just take your word for it. I mean, depending on how much mojo I have behind whatever it is, convincing me might involve a little more than that. Still, no matter how vociferously I argue something, the very instant I see that your point carries the day, I get all tingly and happy! It feels that good to be set right.
Dave accuses me of having become a know-it-all since I started in on my doctoral degree in Out There. I had to point out that I don't that often bring up stuff here that I don't know about, or say so when I don't mostly, and so when he comes in cold to make some mother-fucking patronizing statement on something I know all about and he knows nothing about, well... you can see how he'd run into some opposition then, I'm sure.
I'm sick of bullshit! I have worked my butt off to be a true human. I still do work my butt off on that. I don't demand you do the same, but I do demand people have the decency to recognize my website is not here for others to work off their frustrations, or display their conceits at others' expense, or mindfuck us... none of that shit. I have also worked my butt off not to pull any of the SEO tricks other bloggers do, to get more eyeprints here. I figure karma will completely cover who comes and who goes and that is perfect.
This isn't a popularity contest. I'm not trolling for fans. If you like it here, you are welcome. If you don't like it here, but are somehow too fascinated by it to go away, you are also welcome. Just don't get the idea you can be a drag and I'll put up with it.
We're in deep trouble. We either fix it, or it gets worse. None of us has the time for this. So if you can't cut the bullshit even in this little corner of eternity, holy fuck, what a despicable waste. Pull yourself together.
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