novatownhall blog

My TDY was successful as was Mama’s TDY.  After sharing the prize of many stuffing sized fish as well the bountiful crabs necessary for the stuffing, and taking care of the yard chores to bring the old abode back to its southern beauty, I am officially back to keep you amused and entertained. What ever did happen to Viesalva anyway?

I am very thankful for the bounty of excellent posts coming from Jack and Jacob. Were it not for them, along with Stoner, our readership would have gone the way of the Dodo (which seemed to flock around where I was). I have the first 2 rounds next time we meet. You deserve it. And now, on with the show.

So the government dictates.  Joe was.  I am not nor are most others that I have read.  Then again, most “journalists” are not journalists.  WaPo., Virginia Pilot, Richmond Times, USA Today and many others are all members of the MSM crusade to besmirch good people and policies not to their liking.  Biased.  And they can do that since they desire.  Those that swallow that garbage of misinformation and then translate it as valid talking points of fact in blogs are another part of the problem.  And they are allowed.  I make reference to my source material for posts here and I am allowed.  It all depends on what type drum you use and the beat it gives.

Now I feel that the posters here at NVTH understand what I will allow in a post and there has never appeared to have been a problem that I have seen.  I haven’t had to “ask” for any change from them.  They know what I want and they are very astute to what makes a good post.  I, me, myself, am allowed to “bend those rules” for my own purposes because I have much passion on certain issues and I don’t have the word skill that Joe had and I don’t like beating around the bush when I want to get MY viewpoint across.  Plus, most important, it is my blog for my sole entertainment.  Understand that.  NVTH exists under my tutelage for the sole purpose of MY ENTERTAINMENT!  I allow others to comment and enjoy this site and format as well…..within reason.  That means I also control that enjoyment as to not allow radicalization of this site from others which is contrary to what I want “promoted” here.

The issue I have with other bloggers is that many sites are uncontrolled and not worth the read.  Some sites are both good and bad.  And still others are so two-faced it makes some cringe at the remarks while others cheer at the self-destruction.  Some sites HAVE a sole purpose and promote that purpose at all turns.  NVTH is a venue for discussing local, state, nation and international politics.  Sports, games, movies, dining, books, whatever can be posted as the poster feels the need.  This is a general theme site for all intents and purposes.  Posters here ridicule politicos when necessary to voice a viewpoint.  That’s necessary and viewpoint.  We are not on a “witch hunt” here nor will I allow going into the cesspool for that cause.  I have seen another site with Three Clowns who live for no other purpose but to witch hunt a select group of people, organizations or individuals for, in my opinion and understanding, no other reason but to defame.  This ridicule shows in almost every post of every topic, even ones that have no correlation to said people but just to “throw them in” for good measure.  Why?  Peeling back the facade there is nothing left but core hatred.  Notably for the pretense of one’s beliefs; not their politics although, at times, politics are involved.  These Clowns believe in fiscal conservancy (as they would have you believe) but not social conservancy.  I don’t believe much in what they believe and espouse because they are all over the place without a CORE belief.  That is their right.  I just find it hard to swallow their diatribe and cringe on the (getting rarer) occasions I stop by there.  The main behaviour I have seen of late (mostly the last year) is to pick subjects that the left and Obama feel are pertinent for divisive reasons and boy do they do an excellent job of it.  I don’t wan that here at NVTH.  I like who I like and back who I back as is my want.  I wish for (but don’t usually get) alternative viewpoints that have room for dialog and idea swapping.  That would be the logic and premise for this blog.  At times I get the loon factor which keeps me honest knowing these type individuals truly exist out there.

I have a blog roll and other caches that came with this site from Joe.  I have my priorities straight (Mama comes first, last and always) and the “housekeeping” of the links here are low on that list.  I appreciate what was given me and find these links as tools for the convenience of the viewer.  I do not support, condone or promote these said links.  Again, convenience for the VIEWER.  Go where you want, see what you want, believe what you want.  The sites show how others think and what their core values are.  Differing viewpoints and understandings is all that they are about.  I am just applying an easy access to get there–nothing more.

Now I could go on but I have had my little say and feel better for it.  Before I start trashing Black, Delgaudio, Reid, Clarke, the LCRC, Loudoun BOS or any others, I will wait till I have something to bitch about.  First I need to know what the INDIVIDUAL subject (and they are different every time) is about and what may have prompted them to do what I don’t like.  THEN I will correspond with the individual(s)/group directly for clarification or to give my personal viewpoint and lastly, openly trash them here if I feel it necessary.  And, no, I don’t give Obama this consideration for a reason which I will not discuss here–ever.  I contact no president in office–ever.  So have at it and whine your guts out.  I expect a shit-storm from those individuals who feel I have slighted them.  If I get no comments is of no consequence to me.  The post is to promote my viewpoint to the viewers for the sole purpose of my entertainment.  Period.  Enough said.

UPDATE II (12/5/11): A heartfelt Cain Train postmortum, from one of its first passengers.

UPDATE: It’s over.

And now that that’s a wrap, I guess it’s safe to relate my personal lasting impression of the Herman Cain presidential campaign. After being invited to his event in Tyson’s Corner last week by a local Cain campaign representative, with the intention of writing a favorable blog post about the candidate (technically speaking, a puff piece), upon showing up, finding the person who invited me and talking to a slew of campaign people, I was shunted off to a downstairs media holding room for over 2 hours while the event was going on. Along with 14 or so official media folks, I sat around waiting for the candidate to show up, which a Cain campaign staff member had said would happen at some point.

Then, we were informed Herman Cain would not be visiting the media area, and a few minutes later we were unceremoniously and hurriedly escorted upstairs by a security goon, out the door and about 30 yards down the McLean Hilton driveway and left, literally, standing in the middle of the road – no sidewalk, no lobby … and certainly no chance to see any portion of the event or get any basis on which to write something nice about Herman Cain. No wonder Stacy McCain had called for the campaign “managers” to be horsewhipped (see original post below).

Here is the only photograph I was able to take of the Herman Cain for president fundraiser in Tyson’s Corner:

Cain seemed like a decent fellow, but I think he had too high an impression of himself and felt like he could win the nomination just on the strength of his personality. If you read his recent book, you’d see that he has fantastic natural gifts, but has been a bit of a job-hopper, which gives the sense that he does not think very deeply into things – kind of gets by by winging it for a while and then moves on; and that his message is, basically, “I am so great.” Thus you get poor preparation for interviews, bad campaign management and hiring decisions, and a blithe sense of invulnerability following the Gary Hart model. That painful video of the interview question about Libya could have, in itself, served as the sole Democrat campaign commercial for September – November 2012 if Cain had somehow gotten the GOP nomination … the whole 5 minutes played unedited, over and over and over.

Republicans probably should be thankful for today.

ORIGINAL POST:
The expression “ill-advised” seem more and more like a double entendre in reference to the Herman Cain presidential campaign. Supposedly today we will learn whether the campaign will continue – although if there’s a way to botch such an announcement, expect the botching operation to be in full swing even as we speak.

I recently got a wee taste of Dr. Cain’s Marvelous Traveling Competence, Potions And Olde Style Oratory Show – which, incidentally, will feature Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the starring roles when the Hollywood version is released – but there has been no better coverage on the Web than that by Stacy McCain.

Just click here and scroll down.

Or, to get a quick sense of things, read these three recent stories:

E-Mail to a Cain Campaign Staffer

Excrement Impacts Air-Circulation Device

Herman Cain Campaign Press Release

To understand the role the gay/LGBT ideologues play among liberal activists requires only three words: “Abigail Williams Syndrome” (with a hat tip to Arthur Miller).

In the following video, Winona Ryder portrays David or Jonathan Weintraub – take your pick; the group of cowed, compliant girls are liberal activists; and the judge is, well, you.

Get the full force of the metaphor – by all means watch the entire movie.

In compiling a wrap-up of all the anger and misinformation that outsiders brought into the Sterling community during the campaign season (and continuing right into election day), I found the witch hunt against Eugene Delgaudio stood out as Exhibit A.

The gay/LGBT “pink piper” ideologues have successfully convinced most liberals that anyone disagreeing with a gay fatwa is evil, hateful, and inciting others to violence.

The phenomenon was brought vividly into focus for me after the election during this attempt at across-the-aisle conversation. If you were to read all the comments – which I would not presume to recommend, but go ahead if you have the time – what you would find is that local liberals cannot even engage in open discussion when the subject is someone under accusation (particularly when Abigail herself is in the vicinity).

I wander over to that blog once in a while, and nearly every time I am subjected to interrogation regarding Eugene Delgaudio. And as you can see, regardless of what I say, the only acceptable response I could give would be to pronounce Eugene evil, to join the witch hunt – to fall in with the choir of shivering girls.

How has the local “Abigail Williams” faction gained such an opinion-forming role in the political community?

This is just a theory, and not just about Loudoun County but the country as a whole, so it may be overly general, but I think it gets close to the truth:

I think the gay spokespeople have stepped in to fill a void in the liberal value structure, and conservatives have been caught so flat-footed by the challenge from “left field” that to a large extent they have not yet put it into perspective nor fashioned a forceful response.

With the dismaying conclusions of the Clinton and Bush presidencies for liberals and conservatives, respectively; the unresolved natures of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the extended financial crisis; the continuing disappearance of any articulated moral consensus in popular culture (including within the religious communities); and the crushing reality of a disappointing Obama presidency – “liberalism” and “conservatism” are now being redefined, as we speak, both in terms of philosophy and public policy.

Amidst this period of redefinition – this fluid landscape – there has blossomed a moment of influence for progressive sexual ideologues.

And why not? They are one of very few players in that space right now.

“Family values” is but a hoary remnant of political-sloganeering days gone by; abortion (for or against) is hardly a front-burner issue. About the only … well that may be an exaggeration, but certainly among the most ubiquitous and consistent statements regarding sexual morality and sexual matters in general are coming from the gay community. They’ve got a core set of issues which they continue to talk about, and whether you agree or disagree you must acknowledge they are focused, persistent and effective in the court of public opinion.

And they’ve done a very good job during a period of fading moral consensus of claiming, for a time, the high ground.

Make no mistake, they have not taken that ground by persuasion nor consensus of the majority population. They have commandeered a perch of moral superiority through scorched earth tactics and a flamethrower ready for any voice of opposition.

Opponents of the gay agenda are only of two types, according to the progressive ideologists:

Either they are quietly uneducated or ignorant, which means they simply have not yet learned to vote correctly.

Or, they are loud and influential – which means under fatwa; evil, hateful, inciting violence; walkers with the Devil …

Witches.

We all know which category Mr. Delgaudio has gotten himself into.

Like Abigail, convinced of the sanctity of their own personal agenda, the gay ideologues allow no opposition – for opposition is of the Devil – and they also allow no wavering among supporters nor those erstwhile on the sidelines. Anyone and everyone within earshot must join the choir of accusers, must agree that the accused is wholly and truly a witch who must recant or be hanged – and all who do not join in the accusation are immediately charged as witches themselves.

The insanity and hysteria was over in Salem, Massachusetts by 1700. Perhaps on November 8, 2011, the citizens of Sterling, Virginia finally signaled an end to the Loudoun County witch hunt.

UPDATE: As Wolverine just summed it up: “You either bend a knee to the resident judge of all moral standards, swear to reform yourself, and condemn Eugene Delgaudio to perdition or you are labeled permanently as immoral.”

Sorry, but I can’t sit here any longer.  Most of you are already there but these are things I just want to avoid.  I will always let TC or BVBL top me on those “important” issues cause I don’t want the headaches.  Call me chicken.  You need to check it out just for the lively commentaries.  This is the reason I love to read blogs.

 I am letting the cat out of the bag before I throw it off the bridge.  I am taking the reins from Joe as new owner of NVTH.  No single entity can replace Joe so I will not even try.  My intent is to do nothing more than to keep from steering this ship aground.    Let me get started with some insight.

Who I Am:  I am a blog reader and commentor.  I peruse blogs and use them as barometers for the day to day understanding of people and their lives.  Specifically, their lives as affected by politics.  There are some very good blogs out there and I consider NVTH to be one of those.  Then again, there are some very bad blogs out there that are nothing more than manic depressive hate fests.  How some of them still survive is beyond me.  I am a conservative constitutionalist but I always love to entertain how the other side thinks.  There is real joy in understanding that which may be foreign to our way of thinking.  It is like a puzzle that needs a solution.  The more we understand, the more rounded we become.  With that comes defense through knowledge and how to deal with people effectively.

My intents for this blog: First, Joe has proven through political candidate interviews that you, the readers, relish what is going on in local politics.  I intend to move forward with this established practice but with a twist.  I intend to interview all candidates for each position, whenever possible, so that insight is given and a true choice can be made.  I do not intend to sway you with my candidate choice but rather transmit the information that I am given – along with their self-generated messages, such as on each individual’s website, so that you may further pursue a wide range of information.  I do not intend to change your party affiliation but rather, as previously stated, give you information of how the other side thinks, as it were.  It may seem like a tease but, hopefully, it will entice you to further research these individual candidates to truly see how they may affect the political process and office – both pro and con.  That is what is necessary to make a logical and grounded choice.  Any interviewee that decides not to respond or denies the interview, you will be told about, as well as the questions asked.  I do not ask comfortable questions and I envision many a non-response.  That is telling in and of itself.  Hopefully I will promote an environment of wanting to know more.  

Second, I would like to caution all on how commentors are treated.  The purpose of blogs is in relating information, ideas and ideals.  You can have cordial discourse without name calling or blind rage.  My perception of debate is to have accurate information as your shield and your intellect as your sword.  To me, the object of the exercise is to edify others which can be richly rewarding by: having a good adversary to further discuss issues with; be thanked for giving someone enlightenment; and – my personal favorite – changing someone’s mindset and thought process.  Some may see this as a game but I see it as a challenge.  I use similar techniques in everyday conversation.  We all have emotions of which passion and frustration are very strong.  Learn to control them to your advantage rather than having them control you to your disadvantage.  People do not tend to hang around mean spirited sites.  Vitriol is a stagnator and a killer.

What I expect:  People say I do not have a sense of humor.  To that I would say look at the Code of Conduct on the upper right sidebar.  I have seen many inane commentors dominating sites that drove me away.  You do not have the right to participate here.  It is a privilege to do it.  I have seen the stress that Joe contended with on this site brought about by those who felt they had a right.  I can endure alot but even I have a breaking point.  Once you know this up front, you should also know the ground you are standing upon is ice.  Just do not be foolish.  I also have a 3 foot tall deranged Spider Monkey that gets regular electrical shock treatments and is just looking to open a can of whoop-ass!  Like I said, I do have a sense of humor.  This would be a  circumstance where you hear from me.

There are 2 kinds of anonymity: the first being those who want to just use a “handle” or have multiple names to stack the deck, so to speak.  The second is the person that has fear of retribution from their work or others, tabooed by their employment, embarrassed with speaking in public.  It could be for any number of reasons but it is justified by the user and that is all that matters to me.  It is their want.  I saw recently on this and another blog where someone was called out using their real name.  Other commentors called the individuals on it and I respect that.  Anonymity is a trust and I keep the trust.  I want bloggers to feel safe here when speaking their minds.  This site is not intended to stifle commenting but to promote it.  There are some posters that have deletion powers that have my permission to use them when these transgressions occur.  Management does not always see these things and it is good when the community acts upon itself.  “Calling out” someone by their real name is being a bad Catholic and you can read what happens to bad Catholics here.  It will not be tolerated and there will be no further warnings from me. 

 There is a grand cadre of posters here.  Some are excellent with statistics like jack, jacob and joe.  gstone, Loudoun Lady and joe are very astute in the political realm. joe and myself are both witty and entertaining with subliminal messaging involved.  These are very informative individuals.  Then you have the regulars to this site.  These commentors are the spice that make it enjoyable and even edgy at times.  There are commentors who we all should be learning from.  They appear very intelligent, thought provoking, insightful and I am glad they frequent here.  3 that have caught my eye are Barbara Munsey, Wolverine  and squiddy.  At this time I would like to extend an open invitation to add themselves as NVTH bloggers.  You have much to offer and I would be honored to have you aboard.  With that said I would like you to know this: NVTH is YOUR blog.  You are the engine that makes this site go.  I intend to just sit back, do what I do and allow you to do what you do best and I will see if I can keep the wheels from falling off.

If you have questions or need to contact me here, there is a tag line that you will see on the right sidebar below comments.  Comments are always welcome.  Criticisms?  Well, if you must but remember the Spider Monkey!

The time has come: As most of you know, I am now taking a step back from NOVA TownHall, will no longer be managing or administering it and have no ownership in it whatsoever. I have run this blog for 5 years and 11 months, and it’s time to give some other folks a shot.

I probably will still blog and comment on occasion, here and elsewhere, but I can’t say when or how much. What I do know is I have exited the office for the final time, locked the door and left my keys on the desk.

To that end, effective immediately, ownership of NOVA TownHall is being transferred to a consortium of eco-friendly manufacturing firms, headquartered near Shanghai, who have discovered a remarkably inexpensive technology for producing baby formula and need a communications outlet to appeal to potential investors in the conservative community.

Oh, whoops: Did I just mention something about “a consortium of eco-friendly baby food companies”?

Forget I said that; what I meant was: Some of the current bloggers are taking over NOVA TownHall. Why would I sell this blog to the makers of “Magic Baby” for nearly $5 million in cash and stock options? That would just be silly.

The blog itself is going to keep right on going – I was going to say “down the same path” but if anyone can define for me what is happening here I would love to know. But there is a fine, dedicated, interesting group of people who have put a lot into this Web site over the years and have become a community of sorts around it.

Because of the time they have put in as bloggers and/or commenters, they have a stake in continuing and improving the blog. The neighborhood is not going anywhere.

Blog posts will probably just keep coming from the usual crew, actually, so you may see very little difference at all. The policy on “guest blogger” access and what sorts of comments will be considered problematic are both now up to the new owners. Those were my deals, and they do not transfer necessarily. If you are having problems getting something to post just be patient, please, and you should find out what is going on and what you will be allowed to do here.

I believe NOVA TownHall will remain a forum for different points of view which, if anything, is what has made it unique. It will continue to vary widely in the nature of its content – that I am certain of. It will definitely evolve along with the times as well as with the personalities of the new bosses. There may be mustard gas attacks. Because of the goodwill we have developed with so many people in the community, it seems likely all the various disputes will settle down and the hurt feelings will scab over and heal eventually, and that the whole forward-motion-of-history thing will remain at work, with every thesis and antithesis being resolved into a higher synthesis – which itself becomes the next thesis, and so on until the dawn of the perfect age is wholly upon us. But mustard gas – probably in there somewhere.

If you want to contact or get information about the new executives, don’t ask me. We are going to put up a contact form for them (something I should have done years ago) so you can easily send questions and requests. Give that a day or two and it should appear in the sidebar. They will make themselves and their roles known as they see fit.

If you wonder why I am stepping down, there is no great mystery. It is not so much that a few times a year we all re-enact the courtroom scene from “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” It’s more because when this project started my situation was different. I had a built-in revenue stream from doing things that did not encompass all of my interests, and this was a way to have an outlet for indulging other interests as well as blowing off steam in a public place as is the God-given right of every English-speaking man.

Now, I’ve changed that financial model so the revenue stream has to be completely regenerated, which leaves no time to manage this blog. Related is the fact that “blowing off steam” is no longer a major part of my lifestyle toolkit.

Running a blog has its downsides, especially if it not set up to accept advertising. Free work requires further explanation most of the time. Not that it’s bad, but it needs to be justified. In this case, the policy of openness eventually made for a lot of babysitting. There are people who think that taking a crap in the community pool enough times will eventually make it their pool. That’s sociopathic delusion, of course: Messing up what has been opened to the community will just get it restricted or closed by the owners. There is a burnout factor that comes with managing such a situation (and I imagine the new owners here will find the same thing, and ultimately adopt a more sustainable policy than I was able to put in place).

The other major life-shortening aspect of this has been the fact that we are a mostly political blog. That by itself opens the door to some unpleasantness. And let me quickly point out that we had almost zero of what I would truly call “trouble” as a result of battles over political issues with our ideological opponents. We got little grief from liberals and Democrats: That part was mostly a lot of fun and I made some friends as a result.

The problems arose from the fact that being on the same “side” as someone else in politics does not make them your ally in life. Just like everything else related to human nature (and I imagine this will apply to the Democrats in precisely equal measure), what we say we are concerned with, and what we really are concerned with, are often two different things:

Much of what passes for “politics” is nothing more than personal conflict played out on a bigger stage. High school is over, and wherever we as adults move on to, is where we shall manifest our self-centeredness and proclivity for petty grudges and backbiting. Give us command of the neighborhood pool party, we’ll make sure “you know who” has nothing to do with the desserts. Get us involved in a church, we’ll see that the new committee understands how things work. Put us in a company, we’ll put our stamp on the department.

And if you let us glom onto a political movement or organization, we can convert that into a cauldron of seething rivalries and pointless effort in no time at all, thank you very much. That’s what we do.

The so called “Tea Party” phenomenon here locally is the example par excellence.

If a higher being from another realm were to land in Northern VA for a few days of R & R and ask, “So, I haven’t been to this sector of the universe in nearly a century, what is this new ‘Tea Party’?” – we would have to answer “Which one?” And the higher being would nod sagely and say “Ah, I see. Like the Methodist Women’s Auxiliary of Brunswick. That was a sad case, also.”

Any public project that tries to brand itself as “Tea Party”-related should be subject to immediate scrutiny and skepticism, because what the people behind it say they are concerned with, and what they are really concerned with, are almost certainly two different things.

Whatever the concept of this blog, the intra-party types of battles have become a major premise behind much conversation here, which adds more edginess than many blog managers would be comfortable allowing (just take a survey of comment policies elsewhere and you will see quickly how such matters are usually handled – I think TC is the only local forum that has the same libertarian approach.) It creates a level of emotional intensity here at times which does wear on a person, and for that reason I think the new bosses should consider some term limit provision: No one will be allowed to manage the blog for more than, say, 18 months or 32 months, because our public health system simply cannot handle a continuous stream of nervous system disorder cases.

But don’t pay too much attention to my complaints. I am a grumpy old man, as you well know. Every job eventually has downsides, and I shouldn’t let my jaded nature color the overall picture.

These disputes and others, between you (the collective readership) and me (me), I wish to put to bed. Let us be plagued by them no longer.

By far, running NOVA TownHall has been a positive experience. The Loudoun County Republican Committee contains many, many people I will always consider friends. We are extremely lucky to have outstanding individuals willing to run for office from this area, and such dedicated, competent volunteers running the LCRC. Across the board, Loudoun County is a great place to be a Republican because there are a lot of Republicans holding office and having thrown their hats in the ring whom we can all be proud of.

The Democrats and Independents I’ve gotten to know are also a good group. Some folks who were quite in the “opponent” category at one time, such as BlackOut and Laura Valle, are now people I consider sharing so much a common temperament with me that I have to be reminded about where we differ. The Stay Puft Marshallow Man quickly turned out to be a truly decent individual with whom I did not have nearly as many differences with as I originally thought, once the Devil and Daniel Webster scenario had cooled off; I am grateful to still be in contact and I hope to remain so.

Overall, because of this blog, I am now on a first-name basis with a ton of people I would never have even met because of my innate anti-social aspects. Our many readers and of course commenters represent the highest strata of human evolution as a species, which is nice and, frankly, the level of company I prefer.

As my last formal act as blog manager, I want to put forth a few wishes and thoughts:

• For my co-bloggers – we happy, sometimes bitchy, possibly inebriated few: You all have been a huge blessing, so I thank you sincerely for the time, creativity and effort you continue to expend here. That’s all, because I don’t plan on saying any final goodbyes to you all anytime soon. We’ll be seeing each other plenty; I just needed to express my gratitude right at the top here.
• For LI and the Monk, listen: It’s all been downhill since that Garden of Eden fiasco, so trying to trace back where any relationship really was damaged, and by whom, and who said what and all that is futile. This person thought that person meant X so they responded with Y and that stirred everything up for good, but of course if you look at the parents and grandparents they all contributed to the personality issues we see today, and the GREAT GREAT grandparents: Well, now they were real pieces of work, I mean Otto von Bismarck had nothing on them … you see how it is? There’s no point in arguing who started what. What we need here is a “Reset” button – and not the Obama Administration version which because of incompetent translation actually says “Now All People Explode” – but an actual do-over that goes back a couple years. You guys agree on just about everything. Leave the other political actors out of it because they all have their own agendas, of which you are not an integral part. Forget the past, continually. All of Loudoun yearns for this.
• For Stevens Miller, I hope you keep blogging. You are a natural in the medium, with wit, honesty, self-deprecation in appropriate amounts and a knack for knowing what of your daily slog might be interesting to other people. Whatever you end up doing next, you should be a blogger. However you should open up your Sitemeter stats: Yes, it stings at first, but it shows you’re serious and comfortable in your skin.
• For Zimzo, I hope everything worked out for you. Thank you for all the time you put in here.
• For Pam, I think you should get a cat.
• For the Weintraubs, I hope you find an accommodation with the legal status quo some day, through a combination of affecting the latter and moderating your goals. You both are nice guys and it would be good if at some point you could carve out enough breathing room on that one issue to lighten up about it, and maybe write some posts about gardening or something. (I’m sure I just broke yet another cardinal rule of gender-related propriety there, so please accept my apologies in advance. And if you want to Photoshop a graphic of me as a Southern plantation owner – which is the direction I would take it – I’d be happy to provide head shots from different angles. You have my email address.)
• For all the political candidates I have said unflattering things about, I apologize if any of it was truly uncalled for. In 99.9% of cases there were people supporting you who were being completely obnoxious and I could not resist joining the fray. It is to my shame, I know. But there are also candidates who can attest that I avoid the low road and work hard to be fair. That is, except with regard to certain officeholders in Washington DC, of whom it may be said that the burning coals I have heaped upon their heads were delivered with the sureness and rightness of Archangel Gabriel himself, such that the smoldering of their shame should be seen by all of creation through all eternity. But for the other instances, sorry if it went too far.
• For the guy who threatened to sue me over the “Tea Party” comment thread, I’d like you to meet a young lady I know: Her name is Pam. A coalition of doctors, police and failed political candidates has determined that Pam should never be allowed near a keyboard again, so she could use some companionship right now. She lives in Maryland, but I think you two have a lot in common. You ought to go on a long, driving vacation somewhere.
• For Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, the Most Honorable, I join all of humanity in the chorus: “There’ll always be a Eugene!” You have done more work for this community than anyone gives you credit for, and you are the best friend Sterling has. We need you on the board of supervisors. Thank you for everything, sir.
• And to everyone who took me seriously simply because I shot photos and posted them on a blog; well, I appreciate it, because it was good for me in getting to meet people and hear interesting conversations, but it’s really very easy. But it was nice of you all to make it seem like a big deal.

We humans are susceptible to the belief that we have an unlimited amount of time, even that we have much of it simply to burn – and that’s not the case. The single, only certainty we have about the future is that our personal one on this earth will come to an end with total finality, just as likely sooner as later. And even if much, much later, that brick wall is not far down the road at all, in the grand scheme of things.

I think everyone eventually realizes that the hours of life are like droplets tumbling down a waterfall, and at some point you say to yourself, they’re falling away too fast, much too fast.