I spend a lot of time reading weblogs.
I read TalkingPointsMemo and a dozen other lefty news blogs. I read about Bush and I read about Iraq. And I worry myself sick because just about everything I read tends to confirm my sense that (in the immortal words of an R. Crumb character that I’ll track down one of these days) “the whole fucking planet is turning to shit.” But I enjoy those blogs because they have personality.
Over the last few weeks I’ve checked wetmachine a few times just to see what was up, and nothing much was. And I remember thinking: Damn, what’s up with this site? Why is it so dull? Where is wetmachine’s personality?
Which thought got me to thinking , where are all the wetmachiners? Why aren’t they amusing me? Will Ron ever make that inaugural post that he has promised to make (via email to me) half a dozen times? Will Chris Bremser perhaps lose his Wetmachine virginity with a report from Paris? (Ron and Chris are two charter wetmachiners who have yet to make a post. . . ).
Stearns puts a post up from time to time; that’s true. I like Stearns’ posts. But they’re generally pretty bland. When will he break out of his comfort zone and write the kind of powerful rant that he used to send me nearly every day when I was his boss? Hell’s bells, I used to rely on Stearns as much as I did on coffee to wake me up each morning. He used to rip my head off.
And can I get Peg to write a story or two instead of her occasional tantalizing links? I know she’s an overworked full time mom with full time job and full-time children, but she’s also a punk rocker & neurscientific theologian, dammit, and a writer of fiction. I know she has it in her.
Gary, well: Gary is Gary. He’s not going to say much; that’s the way he is. But he keeps the site alive, so I won’t give him too much of a hard time. On the other hand I do wish Gary would post a rant on something, anything. I was Gary’s boss at one time too. So I know that he knows how to launch a broadside: I’ve been his target & more than once.
Jainaba can write or not write as she feels like it, but with her my main concern is that she not leave her dirty dishes in the sink.
But mostly I was thinking Where the hell is Harold? I NEED MY SAUSAGE FACTORY! Gimme gimme gimme!!!
And what about the readers? I know from my nifty webstats package that thousands of people read this site each month. Readership keeps going up. But few of you post any comments. Is that because (a) you’re not really “readers” but simply spiderbots, (b) you can’t figure out how to create an account to make a post, (c) the site is so stupefyingly dull that there’s nothing worth saying about it (d) other?
Sometimes there also was a little voice in the back of my head that seemed to be whispering, “Hey, it’s your site. Why don’t you write something?” But whenever I heard that voice, my immediate reaction was to turn up the volume on whatever music was coming through my headsets.
I’m going to turn down the headsets now and give a listen. Maybe next time I’ll have something more interesting to say.
Helloworld. That’s a comment. I’m a real reader (turing-tested?). That’s a good site. Not everyone has too much to say everyday. Quality over quantity. Take me: I don’t blog at all. But sometimes I comment (read this for a categorization of user behavior: Social Hacker, Social Architect, Social Wrestler, Social Sniper at http://www.no-hit.com/andri… )
Well I’m glad for this meta-(non?) comment. I’ll be reading the social hacking thing later today. And by the way thanks for the link. You send a few people to us every month, sometimes more.
OK, OK, I’ll post a rant at some point. But see, the thing is, when I would unleash a rant on management, I already had all of the facts I needed. Since I am a tech writer, and therefore somewhat anal about the facts I incorporate into my writing, I can only rant about things I already know everything about (or am deluded into thinking I know everything about), or I have to go out and do research.
The things I currently already know everything (or a lot about) really don’t fit on Wetmachine (these include, in no particular order, the process of installing Linux on an EPIA motherboard in order to try to turn the thing into an entertainment center, how much online dating sucks (for me at least) how to make sushi (or, how to mostly fail at making sushi), and how to make a kickass lamb stew).
Other stuff I know about really have been covered ad-nauseum in other forums, and I have really little to add to it (Bush sucks, SCO sucks, Linux good, Microsoft bad, etc.) Then there’s the stuff I know for work, which bores me to tears during the day, nevermind after hours.
The stuff I’ve considered writing for Wetmachine involve doing actual research… topics like “Why aren’t the record companies fucking dead yet?” (a rant based on my frustration of not being able to buy music online that will work with my equipment) “why the Web is totally brain-dead” (based on my frustration with searching onthe web, primarily, and how people are gaming Google).
My idea for a amusing commentary piece, “Offshoring CEOs” has been largely mooted, since the employee unions at IBM have been chanting just that (“http://www.accountancyage.c…).
I can write one nostaligia piece off the top of my head about retro computing, comparing today’s computer scene with that of the 80’s, which occurred to me when I was looking up websites to hand off to you on the Very Top Secret Project. Even that, though, would take time to make thoughtful. So…
And there’s also the overhauling of the Wetmachine plumbing which needs to be attended to, since we had that metaphorical flooding of the basement the other day.
Hmm… does this count as a rant?
To paraphrase Hamlet, A rant! A very palpable rant!
At least I think it was Hamlet.
I certainly want to hear about putting linux on the motherboard. . .