10-18-2005
It has been mentioned by you, not so gentle readers, that I don't post often enough on my blog. I'm sure this less than auspicious behavior has also, maybe more significantly, been noted by our noble leader ,McE. Before I begin my commentary on this week's theme, I'm going to indulge in a minor rant which will explain this unfortunate phenomenon, and with a little luck will even segue into my blog comment.
Somewhere in the last 5 years, I have evolved into the thankless position of Family Patriarch. I'm not entirely sure how this happened. It's possible I magically got older, had a bunch of kids and grandkids, and outlived all the other authority symbols in the family while I wasn't paying attention. Patriarch is not a paying position. In fact, it's extremely expensive in terms of both time and money. I usually love being the center of attention, but being the focal point and psychological,emotional, ethical, and financial touchstone for all the multitudinous solutions of my family's problems is tremondously time-consuming. Not that anyone actually pays attention to my opinion on whatever problem has arisen, but endless discussion seems to be required and apparently I always need to be consulted (especially about the financial solutions). My son, in a touching burst of honesty after a heated discussion (aren't they all?) called me his "rock". My daughter called me nearly every day from Colorado for months to help her through her divorce. My grandkids come flying across the room and leap into my arms every time I see them. Maybe Patriarch isn't such a bad job, but it really eats into my blogging time.
This , of course, segues smoothly into my favorite blog this week "By Neddy Jingo". Finally , someone who is of a "certain age" and doesn't feel compelled to new aged technicized slang into every sentence. Also his taste in music is appropriately passe. I agree with McE that Neddy is clearly striving for a more literary effort than most blogs we've read, despite his "doth protest too much" response to his discovery of that comment and our class's interest in him. "Dog Bows to the Elephant" is an obvious, and successful, attempt to elevate his style. Even his self-deprecating denial of his own awareness of his literary style is transparently ingenuous. Nonetheless, I gotta love a guy who refers to us as "Colin's Kids".
"Three Bulls" , a self-defined "insult narrative " is a good example of several writing tendencies found in a number of blogs. First, he uses language and concepts designed only for their shock value. He uses terms esoteric to Gen-Xers and bloggeeks, an attempt at satire that runs past satirical and slides all the way into bullying meanness. I didn't even like his choice of content. I can't imagine giving a rat's ass about Sharon Osborne or, for that matter, Iron Maiden. In the words of Studs Lonigan, it's a world I never made.
McE says "I don't know who this is" about "Humblelizard Dairyland". Who would care?
Tomorrow, about "Lance Mannion", "Xiaxview", and "Coffee Rhetoric" (man, did I ever underrate her the first time through, she is terrific)
It has been mentioned by you, not so gentle readers, that I don't post often enough on my blog. I'm sure this less than auspicious behavior has also, maybe more significantly, been noted by our noble leader ,McE. Before I begin my commentary on this week's theme, I'm going to indulge in a minor rant which will explain this unfortunate phenomenon, and with a little luck will even segue into my blog comment.
Somewhere in the last 5 years, I have evolved into the thankless position of Family Patriarch. I'm not entirely sure how this happened. It's possible I magically got older, had a bunch of kids and grandkids, and outlived all the other authority symbols in the family while I wasn't paying attention. Patriarch is not a paying position. In fact, it's extremely expensive in terms of both time and money. I usually love being the center of attention, but being the focal point and psychological,emotional, ethical, and financial touchstone for all the multitudinous solutions of my family's problems is tremondously time-consuming. Not that anyone actually pays attention to my opinion on whatever problem has arisen, but endless discussion seems to be required and apparently I always need to be consulted (especially about the financial solutions). My son, in a touching burst of honesty after a heated discussion (aren't they all?) called me his "rock". My daughter called me nearly every day from Colorado for months to help her through her divorce. My grandkids come flying across the room and leap into my arms every time I see them. Maybe Patriarch isn't such a bad job, but it really eats into my blogging time.
This , of course, segues smoothly into my favorite blog this week "By Neddy Jingo". Finally , someone who is of a "certain age" and doesn't feel compelled to new aged technicized slang into every sentence. Also his taste in music is appropriately passe. I agree with McE that Neddy is clearly striving for a more literary effort than most blogs we've read, despite his "doth protest too much" response to his discovery of that comment and our class's interest in him. "Dog Bows to the Elephant" is an obvious, and successful, attempt to elevate his style. Even his self-deprecating denial of his own awareness of his literary style is transparently ingenuous. Nonetheless, I gotta love a guy who refers to us as "Colin's Kids".
"Three Bulls" , a self-defined "insult narrative " is a good example of several writing tendencies found in a number of blogs. First, he uses language and concepts designed only for their shock value. He uses terms esoteric to Gen-Xers and bloggeeks, an attempt at satire that runs past satirical and slides all the way into bullying meanness. I didn't even like his choice of content. I can't imagine giving a rat's ass about Sharon Osborne or, for that matter, Iron Maiden. In the words of Studs Lonigan, it's a world I never made.
McE says "I don't know who this is" about "Humblelizard Dairyland". Who would care?
Tomorrow, about "Lance Mannion", "Xiaxview", and "Coffee Rhetoric" (man, did I ever underrate her the first time through, she is terrific)
posted by Papa Bill | 3:57 PM
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