There's more to it than this, but I think mostly I'm just tired of people shitting all over excitement and happiness. Naive? Simple-minded? Whatever. I'm taking a break from this blog, for at least a little while. If anyone cares, which I don't see why they should, I'll still be around online, mostly to follow the news of revolution.
Solidarity always to the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Iran, Morocco, and anyone else who rises up. May I one day be brave enough to give you more than the word.
21 comments:
Fine, shit all over my cynicism that the Middle Eastern unwashed masses'll probably be crushed long-term. Heh.
Seriously, it's the internets & all that word encompasses, so an occasional break isn't a bad thing for the sanity. Be well.
I'm really sorry you're taking a break. One of the things I've always appreciated about your blog is that you've managed to be consistently insightful and interesting without putting on an "internet persona" - that you come through as seeming like a genuine human being, and not as distant, aloof, or, well, kind of a prick - traps that are really easy to fall into on the web, given anonymity, the illusion of a wealth of information at our disposal, and an audience to cater to/push against. There's a fundamental sense of humanity that comes through in your writing that's made this blog one of the places I've looked forward to checking out the most over the past few months, and I hope you'll be back soon.
Yeah, what Christopher M said, you're almost like a person. And you don't get poetry and are man enough to admit it. But is this just a ploy, like BDR did to get a pint? If it is, It's a cheap trick, cheap enough for me to offer a pint.
drip
Yeah, what Christopher M said, you're almost like a person. And you don't get poetry and are man enough to admit it. But is this just a ploy, like BDR did to get a pint? If it is, It's a cheap trick, cheap enough for me to offer a pint.
drip
And I was asked to re-enter my stupid word and was duped into double posting. anyway, my new word is prospa and as we used to say, be well and...
dip
How did you like the Pynchon?
hope you get to have a good break, ethan.
also this:
Before I finish, I want to share a few final words that will stay with me that I heard from a woman, Hoda Elsadda, an Egyptian professor of Arabic Studies at Manchester University in England. We met as I took a bus to board a plane to leave Egypt on Sunday. I asked her what she thought of the situation. She replied, "wonderful!"
I asked her if she was worried about the military.
She replied, "Of course I am worried. We all are. But this is a moment of hope, and I haven’t felt hope for so many years. We need to take this step by step. But for now, I insist on feeling happy!"
not to be just a cheap, unoriginal choirboy, but amen to what christ. m. said above.
on egypt et al, fuck ioz.
if you must unplug, here's hoping you get some music done in the meantime.
permanent revolution.
Read your own blog Ethan. People have been overwhelmingly nice to you. Things started to go south when your 'enthusiasm' became a moral cause and you and a pal started flinging invective at heretics.
If you are so damn inspired by Egypt and the Egyptians, Ethan, why have you focused overwhelmingly on non-Egyptians having wrong or right thoughts about them?
Do you think the Egyptian revolutionaries care all that much that an Al Jazeera anchor person interrupted a revolutionary to talk to some European bigshot? What sour IOZ or bloviating Malcolm Gladwell think? Do they feel grateful for some preening grad student's overwrought insistence that they 'narrate.' So many fascinating and inspiring things to think and write about and this is where you go?
Is it not clear yet, who it is that's going through the ointment looking for flies?
You want the courage to join their revolution? Well, good luck with that, considering the pillar of forbearance you are when your readers stop applauding. Here's a tip: moral indignation and verbal abuse won't repel knife-wielding security thugs. They work a charm on self-respecting readers, though.
Have a nice hiatus where you learn lots, refuel and also grow up. With any luck, you'll return on foot rather than the high horse you're riding out on.
yes, a little sanctimonious; quite reminiscent of obama's election-year crusade against cynicism. not only are you going after low-hanging fruit, it's a purely rhetorical target.
enjoy your revolution
Bonobo - please stop being a prick. The world is bigger than your desire to take random strangers on the internet down a peg.
Dear friends:
I hope you will accept this as my vote for excitement and happiness.
Ethan is a natural in this department; I hope he will come back and represent. The excitement and happiness movement needs him!
???
I missed the particulars, I guess. It's funny how the eternal job hunt eats up more free time than having an actual job does.
Anyway, enjoy your hiatus, and come back when/if you're ready, Ethan. Nobody can ask more than that.
Tell me what you think about GR, but only if you want to.
I picked up V out of duhsperation. Might work.
It's gotta suck to keep linking to AnarchoFem and Makhno (Maoists, really, those...) only to have them rage-quit every third day.
I'm sure they can build a movement off that...
It's up to all of us to do that! ;-)
Yo Ethan!
Have you seen the Rebellious Pixels? They range from mediocre to INCREDIBLY AWESOME giggles n' shit!
www.youtube.com/user/rebelliouspixels
Please take me out of your blog roll. I don't prefer the association, especially since you've now twice tried to shame me for my honesty and principles. And while I genuinely respect your loyalty to both R and JR, having you imply hostility and shameful conduct on my part, esp. under the circumstances in question, is like having a dry bath equipped with only a porcupine bristle loofah.
I can do without it.
Good luck to you and yours.
hi Ethan, this article on customer service and related matters might amuse you:
[link]
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