More from my drafts queue!
Unfortunately, I have never stopped being a dick. I’ve mellowed to be sure but there’s a guy in me and he’s not a nice person.
I’ve had what would best be described as a bit of a knock about life. When you have a life like that I think it changes you. Somehow, at this moment I’m thinking about Harlan Ellison for some reason because I think he had a knock about life too. The reason I say Harlan Ellison had that knock about life is because if you look back at the first things Harlan wrote they are about his time in a street gang.
It‘s great reading but understand, Harlan was actually part of a gang in Red Hook, Brooklyn to research the books.
You can’t do that unless you’re tough but being tough is something that never goes away I think.
Those books by Harlan by the way, are good reads and you should check them out.
Even when I’m not collecting my thoughts in this little isolated corner of the internet, I am still out there stirring up trouble. Most of my time these days is devoted to a neglected project which I am hoping to finish up soon and which should significantly improve my environs but, I still manage to stir the pot occasionally.And I stopped there.
Last week, I found myself in a bit of a flame war on a board. Sometimes, the internet is great because there is a dialog and other times it is not so great because people act in ways they wouldn’t in a face to face setting. Lots of name calling, writing in all caps (the online equivalent of yelling), a dose of overused punctuation to make a stronger argument ( reminescent of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine goes exclamation point crazy).
Fortunately, I don’t take these things seriously anymore.
A lot of the reason is because the internet has an all access pass. It’s a good thing but, it’s a bad thing as well. On the one hand, it can be an avenue where you can find interesting and thoughtful people to connect with, others you may brush up against the kind of person who would make your skin crawl in a day to day situation.
The whole online things runs a big gamut.
On Flickr, I’ve seen female photographers post artsy nudes only to be subjected to a litany of ‘Let me do you!’ comments or to find themselves besieged by an inordinate amount of anonymous pictures of strangers genitals (yes, too many penises). I’ve gotten emails in the past from people who said things I can’t ever see the sender having the courage to say in real life and again there is the whole bulletin board phenom.
It’s not like people aren’t rude in the real world but, the faceless factor of the online world gives cowards much more courage than they would normally have. Makes me understand a bit about how mobs behave because I believe the same underlying forces are at work.
Thing is though, I can be the most humongous prick imaginable. It’s not a hard thing to do, as a matter of fact it’s just way too easy and I can say it’s only over the last decade I’ve found myself shying away from the urge. You get older, getting through each day becomes more of an issue, you just want...
Unfortunately, I have never stopped being a dick. I’ve mellowed to be sure but there’s a guy in me and he’s not a nice person.
I’ve had what would best be described as a bit of a knock about life. When you have a life like that I think it changes you. Somehow, at this moment I’m thinking about Harlan Ellison for some reason because I think he had a knock about life too. The reason I say Harlan Ellison had that knock about life is because if you look back at the first things Harlan wrote they are about his time in a street gang.
It‘s great reading but understand, Harlan was actually part of a gang in Red Hook, Brooklyn to research the books.
You can’t do that unless you’re tough but being tough is something that never goes away I think.
Those books by Harlan by the way, are good reads and you should check them out.
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