Monday, Aug. 07, 2006

Lithium is no longer available on credit.


I've got something on my mind.

Well. Okay. I've actually got about 14 trillion, 98 billion, 372 million, 894 thousand, 6 hundred and eleventy somethings on my mind, mostly all wound up in, amongst and around itself like the hugest ball of yarn you ever did see. But, allow me to part out one strand and address it in the here and now.

Oh, and? This may sound like a rant, but it isn't, exactly. It's with more curiosity than venom that I'm exploring this. So keep that in mind, all right?

Why is it that some online journalists/bloggers/textual participants feel the need to tear apart and otherwise judge other online journalists et al? And write entries about it? And then get all defensively, "I can write what I want, and say what I want about who I want, blah blah blah..." I... don't get that.

I mean, sure. It's your journal, you can certainly write about whatever you want. But why create drama for yourself? Unless, of course, that's what you want. I just don't get that, I guess.

And I'm not targeting any one writer, so if you read this and think it's you, or rush to email your friend because you think I'm talking about them, you're probably wrong. Like most journalers, I pop around the web a lot. I link-hop. And, in doing so, I see lots of random journals. This fellow-journalist-bashing is a recurring theme, and hence why I feel I must address it on some level.

One of the most common reasons I see in justification of harsh words towards another writer is, "Well, if they write about xyz, then I'm allowed to say something/call them stupid for it, etc." Which... why, again? To me, that sounds a lot like, "If an overweight person leaves their house, and I see them, I'm allowed to tease them about how overweight they are." Or, "If I see a woman with long hair, I feel justified in calling her ugly because I don't like long hair."

In my convoluted way, I guess I'm saying that yes, you can point fingers and laugh and make fun and condemn people. There's nothing stopping you. But that makes you a bully, in my eyes. Or, at least, a shallow, mean person. Again, I want to stress that I don't have anyone specific in mind here -- it's just general commentary. It's one of those things that I don't understand, and when I have a question mark like this floating around in my head, it usually ends up here.

I know that real-life, in-person counterparts to this exist everywhere -- most of us work with or socialize with or are related to someone who does little more than make catty or pointed judgement calls about everyone around them. And I understand that some people feel a degree of separation in online environments, and maybe say things in a 'Net arena that they wouldn't otherwise put voice to. But the written word can wound as much as the spoken word can.

I don't see why people have to be that way. I'm not saying all of us online writers need to sit around a campfire together, hold hands and sing songs. But, to quote Buckaroo Banzai, "Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are."

Also from my boy Buckaroo, "This far inside the head it all looks the same. No, no, no, don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to." Aaaand, we've come full circle! Tangled yarn thoughts, tugging on things inside the head... my work here is done.

saturncat at 9:32 p.m.

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