10-19-2005
www.xiaxview.com took me by very pleasant surprise. I thought at first thought I would be caught up in another "insult narrative", but unlike the snide nastiness of "Three Bulls" there exists in Xia a little -girl desire to be liked, which is actually kind of obnoxiously charming. Clearly, she is interested in shocking her readers-anyone who describes her menstral blood as "baby pink with light gold glitter" is swimming strongly against the main stream. But her satirical view lacks the vicious bite and nihilistic social position taken by "Bulls"-like blogs. She wants you to visit and appreciate other "Asian" blogspots, so she presents herself as cutely obnoxious. Humor through hyper-exaggeration is a terrific ironic ploy-- painting (and picturing) herself as a princess goddess whose hair sheds snowflakes rather than our mortal dandruff. By the way, I chose willful suspension of disbelief and went with acceptance of her persona as real. It did my heart good to indulge in some lustful yearning. Damn, where did the last 30 years go?
A commentator on Lance Mannion's described it as "often erudite, never oppressive". This succinct analysis cathes the blog perfectly. The writing is smooth, literate ,and incisive. The parallel drawn between Oliver Reed"s interpretation of Bill Sykes and Athos is brilliant. Even considering the lack of heavy duty content, this is impressive stuff.It points out by example the mediocrity of a lot of bloggers that we have read.
Speaking of exceptional lyrical writing, I don't know how I completely missed the subtlety of "Coffee Rhetoric" my first time through. Maybe you don't fall in love at first glance. She hands you her heart on her sleeve, and evokes every protective male instinct in existence (and apparently a few female ones, also). This through a veneer of sarcastic toughness that's heartbreaking. Until she writes it ,this world is missing a great novelist.
Bringing cohesion to an analysis of blog-writing is difficult because of the lack of uniformity in blog types. Most blogs I have readattempt some form of iconoclasm, either through shocking language, unusual content, or the striving for a unique authorial voice. I am excepting here "informational blogs" which may not be true blogs at all because of their impersonality. The fact that there is no censoring authority save personal conscience encourages this style. Adding to this is the technocrati origins of blogging which leads some bloggers to separate themselves from mainstream writing through technospeak, which encodes the writing generationally. Blogging is for some definitively and chauvanistically Gen-X, and when I see it I get pissed off. I get the same feeling watching people mumble Hebrew at a synagogue, which nobody, including the mumbler, understands.
Enough, I'm blithering, which I guess is the point.
www.xiaxview.com took me by very pleasant surprise. I thought at first thought I would be caught up in another "insult narrative", but unlike the snide nastiness of "Three Bulls" there exists in Xia a little -girl desire to be liked, which is actually kind of obnoxiously charming. Clearly, she is interested in shocking her readers-anyone who describes her menstral blood as "baby pink with light gold glitter" is swimming strongly against the main stream. But her satirical view lacks the vicious bite and nihilistic social position taken by "Bulls"-like blogs. She wants you to visit and appreciate other "Asian" blogspots, so she presents herself as cutely obnoxious. Humor through hyper-exaggeration is a terrific ironic ploy-- painting (and picturing) herself as a princess goddess whose hair sheds snowflakes rather than our mortal dandruff. By the way, I chose willful suspension of disbelief and went with acceptance of her persona as real. It did my heart good to indulge in some lustful yearning. Damn, where did the last 30 years go?
A commentator on Lance Mannion's described it as "often erudite, never oppressive". This succinct analysis cathes the blog perfectly. The writing is smooth, literate ,and incisive. The parallel drawn between Oliver Reed"s interpretation of Bill Sykes and Athos is brilliant. Even considering the lack of heavy duty content, this is impressive stuff.It points out by example the mediocrity of a lot of bloggers that we have read.
Speaking of exceptional lyrical writing, I don't know how I completely missed the subtlety of "Coffee Rhetoric" my first time through. Maybe you don't fall in love at first glance. She hands you her heart on her sleeve, and evokes every protective male instinct in existence (and apparently a few female ones, also). This through a veneer of sarcastic toughness that's heartbreaking. Until she writes it ,this world is missing a great novelist.
Bringing cohesion to an analysis of blog-writing is difficult because of the lack of uniformity in blog types. Most blogs I have readattempt some form of iconoclasm, either through shocking language, unusual content, or the striving for a unique authorial voice. I am excepting here "informational blogs" which may not be true blogs at all because of their impersonality. The fact that there is no censoring authority save personal conscience encourages this style. Adding to this is the technocrati origins of blogging which leads some bloggers to separate themselves from mainstream writing through technospeak, which encodes the writing generationally. Blogging is for some definitively and chauvanistically Gen-X, and when I see it I get pissed off. I get the same feeling watching people mumble Hebrew at a synagogue, which nobody, including the mumbler, understands.
Enough, I'm blithering, which I guess is the point.
posted by Papa Bill | 4:00 PM
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