A Slightly Humbling Moment
Posted on February 2, 2009 Posted by John Scalzi 19 Comments
It’s when you write up a long rant about something, look at it, look at the subject of the rant, and then decide all things being equal, it’s probably better just given a single snarky line as a Whateverette. Either my ranting is getting worse, or my internal editor is getting better. I suspect the latter.
That said, my internal editor still lets pointless meta posts slide right on by. I may have to work on that.
In other news, hey! How ’bout them Steele… aw, forget it.
What do you mean, “forget it” — Hello, that MVP was a BUCKEYE!
I’m on the racoon’s side. Fuckin’ drunks, man.
John, I consider it the height of maturity when I have finished a long, usually blistering post and hit delete instead of send.
I believe it might be that way for all of us!
Trey
Was it the internship one? In which case, aw man, I really would have loved that rant.
Bah. A long snarky rant would have greatly improved my day. One line just isn’t going to do it for me.
I was wondering why you didn’t post this morning.
I prefer to believe it’s the third option — that your snark has become so finely tuned that you realized you now only need a single line to express what once would have been a page-long rant.
–SMQ
At least you’re outdoing Blaise Pascal, who wrote: “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.”
I gather this was a very quick “click” moment. Leisure not required.
Well done!
It was the cello scrotum one, wasn’t it?
That shit ain’t funny, man.
Laptop Jewels, though – that’s scary real.
Probably wise. Because it is the internet.
And the internet will cut you.
Well, John, since no one else took the bait –
HOW ‘BOUT THEM STEELERS!!!!!
sign me – life long Steeler’s fan!!
It always takes the wind out of my sails a bit when I realize that the rant that I have typed but not yet sent is a rant that *no one cares about*.
And then I delete it. But let me tell you, wherever in the aether unsent e-mails and forum posts go are *blistering* with rants about uneducated fools who mistake Merovingian and Carolinian bloodlines and make rash assumptions thereof.
Blistering!
I’d love to have seen your rant. You rant with the best of them.
Awww! I’m always up for a good rant. Okay, I’m guessing the internship one. If it was that one, I’d really be interested in hearing you rant.
I remember being annoyed by the fact that my sister was given a well-paid internship summer after summer at my mother’s company (of which she was an executive) whereas I lugged my ass around my whole city applying for student teaching placements for no pay.
I had no idea that you could buy internships!
Anyway…
It’s when you write up a long rant about something, look at it, look at the subject of the rant, and then decide all things being equal, it’s probably better just given a single snarky line as a Whateverette. Either my ranting is getting worse, or my internal editor is getting better. I suspect the latter.
You should try keeping a journal to amuse and horrify your grandchildren on some far off day when can no longer regale them with cranky, interminable monologues about how much better life was in 2009. The universe may have been in the grip of a Global Economic Crisis ™, but the Jedi were still guardians of peace and justice, yap yap yap…
Ok, well, that age progression software isn’t exactly the most reliable thing in the world, but they’re right about the clothes: Martha Washington was a tiny little thing. She got a little bigger when she got older, but then, so did George.
Also, and I realize that this makes me a nerd, but I am ridiculously happy about getting to go and see her wedding shoes. They have pieces of her wedding gown, too. It’s going to be awesome.
(and no, I don’t think this is what you were going to rant about. I’m going to go ahead and not make a real guess).
I’m betting on the raccoons. However, since they are unlikely to be reading the Whatever, the rant would be wasted except for its value in entertaining us.
Ranting always makes me feel better… but nobody reads my blog, anyway!
My money (if I had any) would be on the internship one. Because Scalzi has a daughter so the subject of doing stuff for your kids is prolly one close to his heart. And I can’t imagine him buying Athena an internship.
Also because I don’t think he’d get too passionate about raccoons or Martha Washington or men made out of bacon (well maybe the last one, but it wouldn’t be a rant ;-).
ranting is good for you, it’s good for everyone.