Flashes of Panic

I am, nearly constantly, stumbling across bits of writing on the web that I want to quote, or link, or something. Maybe in someone else’s weblog, like Kasia being sick of gas-price complaints; she’s a lot more direct than I was. (Of course, as near as I can tell, Kasia is more direct than I am.) Maybe a news article or opinion piece like a Bell Lap in Runner’s World (frustratingly, they’ve just redesigned and broken all my links back to my old articles, not to mention broken the entire site for Safari despite my complaints, and a whole bunch of little glitches—c’mon, guys, you’ve had over a week. Get on the stick.) Something someone says in one or another mailing list I’m on. Or even a bit of new software, like Camino 0.8, which is so slick it might even take me away from Safari.

I’m not sure what the point of it all would be, though. I think it’s an applause reflex: yes, I like that. It’s the same motivation I have for putting other weblogs in the link column; it’s not as though anyone’s looking to me for more reading. It’s more of a nod to the writer, polite clapping, encouragement. But, just as I learned to stifle the “me too” reflex on email lists, I’m trying to resist the urge to fill this space with applause.

Maybe it’s a downside to doing a lot of my weblog reading in NetNewsWire; when you read the feed, you have to make an effort to head over and read the comments (if any.) I forget that this isn’t the only place where I have a voice.

Now playing: Pearls from Mercurotones by The Buck Pets