Why Do I Have My Own Blog?

Hmm.  Oh yeah.  Once in a while, I have something independent to say.  Plus I really needed an outlet when PFC left for Boot Camp.  However, I've always known that I'm more an editor that a writer.  I'm an excellent "assistant;" I'm good at adding to, analyzing, and clarifying what others create.  Even when I read the newspaper, I mentally reword sentences an correct grammar and spelling.  (Oh yes you do.  C'mon, admit it!)  What I'm not good at, is choosing a topic and narrowing it down, weeding out the tangents and side issues.

I've spent several hours in Blogland this past week, more than usual, and I've written thousands of words, most of them pretty good.  On another blog.

 http://johnshore.com/2011/06/20/am-i-seeking-the-truth-because-i-want-to-justify-my-sin/comment-page-1/#comments

(Here she goes again...)  I love that blog.  Almost 400 comments on one post, and most of them were insightful and considered.  (When HuffPo publishes one of his posts, he gets easily as many comments, but 380 of them are vitriolic one-liners, submitted by angry, semiliterate cretins.)  I'm pleased with my participation, although I'm a little embarrassed by having spent so much time engaging the Passive-aggressive-blog-troll-from-hell (Brian W.)  Usually creeps like that go away once they realize they're dealing with intelligent commenters who can cut through their bullshit, and show the fallacies in their logic.  Or John bans them for being uncivil. Brian is one slippery, slimy troll, though.  His logic was so vague, it was hard to pin down.  I didn't know what he was saying a fair amount of the time, and the conclusions he drew from others' comments were just plain weird.  He completely missed the point on more than one occasion, and I was reduced to giving him the kindergarten version of several points, and not just mine.

I know that's a classic troll tactic, distracting us from the main topic by dissecting irrelevant details to death, but most trolls get bored with it sooner.  Once you've clarified your point, they leave you hanging and either disappear altogether, or they go nitpicking on another thread.  This guy is either very very stupid, or very very smart.

I brought this up because it slapped me in the face with something I've been considering for a while, changing my blog.  I try to keep in mind the concept of writing for myself, but I can't help considering my audience.  And that's a good thing, really.  It keeps me from saying immature and regrettable, offensive things.  Not that I care if anyone is offended by my honest opinion, but sometimes my opinions aren't all that honest.  No I don't actually lie, but I don't always inform myself well, because, you know, facts can be boring and some of them simply interfere with my brilliant wit.  So I'm going to spend less time stewing over coming up with original posts.  I'll be linking more posts and articles from other sites, and cut-and-pasting dialog I find interesting (my own included.)  It seems pointless for me to put up a "fresh" post on a subject, when someone else has already done it so well.  Or so poorly.  It's not that I'm lazy, but more that I'm not very original.  It's redundant to simply find different words say the same thing.  I'd rather discuss what has already been said.

In other news...BH and I are biting our nails waiting for a phone call.  According to scuttlebutt, he will be offered a new job very soon.

I ordered the coolest earrings from Carteach; and they should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday.
 http://silverandstone.blogspot.com/2011/06/steampunk-earrings.html

Karma is progressing.  More charges, including two felonies, have been filed.  The investigation is being handled by the State Police, and the case will be handled by another county.  The Arrogant Prick has finally been suspended without pay, and his cronies are running for cover.  His political enemies are positively elated, and I am one of many people who are pleased to see his true character coming to light in public.  Technically, he has broken very few laws; like most sociopaths, he's smart that way.  He has "merely" spent his career collecting official and unofficial knowledge, which he uses to put and keep all sorts of people under his thumb, apparently for the hell of it.  He likes knowing people are afraid to cross him.  I'm quite certain he thinks his only mistake was getting drunk and ruining his reputation by showing his ass.

Maxine is back to her old self, only more distracted and less organized.  The part of me that gloats over Arrogant Prick, wishes I could be a fly on the wall when Maxine has to train my replacement, and she realizes she doesn't know how to do my job.  When I first started, the only thing she couldn't do was the driving.  Currently, when I'm not there, a fair amount of my work simply doesn't get done.

Good new/bad news:  When BH starts his new job and the pension payments stop (yes, he checked,  Grrr...)  we will have to stop buying cigarettes.  Expect me to turn into an irrational, nail-biting, screeching bitch.  But a healthier one.