A Phase

I've largely been absent from Banality Fair and other blogs lately, for reasons that aren't entirely clear even to me. But I've got it down to a few possibilities.

1. I've decided that I hate Daily Kos. I went through a period -- beginning just before the election and ending, it appears, recently -- of being a very active participant there. The charm wore off. As near as I can tell, a small cabal of anonymous, presumably uncredentialed attention-hounds run the place, and everyone else jumps around and dispenses "4" ratings to the elect few in the hope of currying a diary recommendation or a reciprocal "4" rating. All that mutual masturbation just got to be too much. Plus, I think it's actually a pretty intellectually vapid place. That's what you get when anyone can post anything. I think my anti-Kos feelings are affecting my feelings about bloggery in general. People who write blogs are vain and presumptuous, by definition. But Kos seems to be little more than an orgy of people reveling in their own vanity and presumptuousness. (All this negativity comes largely, I admit, from the annoying and distasteful reaction of a particular dKos user to the last diary I posted there. I've kind of thrown up my hands about the place.)

2. I only have so much energy, and I've been busy at work.

3. I only have so much energy, and I'm trying to divert some of it to fiction-writing. I've got a couple short stories in nearly finished form. (Or, to paraphrase the quote I read in one of Henry's writings, in nearly "abandoned" form. Who said that, Henry?) I believe I may even send one or both out to be considered for publication. The net effect of that effort will likely be the conversion of several fifteen-page copies of stories into several one-page pieces of paper bearing rejection letters. But, then again, life is like a box of chocolates: It attracts maggots and festering disease, and its outcome is better dreaded than predicted.

4. I only have so much energy, and I'm a lazy prick.

5. The "M" key on my keyboard is broken. No joke. There was a crumb under it, and I tried to pry off the keycap to get at the crumb. I succeeded in removing the keycap and the crumb, but failed in replacing the keycap. It's wedged in at an angle, and every time I try to type an "M", I have go back over it and pound it repeatedly with my finger. This is a disincentive to typing. The people at the Apple Store were too busy to look at my machine, so I have go back this weekend.

I must say, although I hate to because it involves typing the letter "M": It's a nice thing having Joseph K around to carry the full weight of the Banality Fair flag while I go through "a phase." (Hey wait, I didn't have to use "M". AwesoMe!)