I said if I ever had a weblog that I wouldn’t just put quotes from other people and links to other pages. I guess there is a value in aggregating other people’s stuff, but if you keep a weblog, most of your visitors prefer to hear something about you.
So I should say something about me right?? Well, another thing I always said….hmm. Better to tell a story:
I met this guy in Romania. He came to the hostel to drink, but stayed in town at a private residence…five bucks a night, which was 5 bucks less than it was to stay at the hostel, which gave him the 5 bucks to come to the hostel and drink.
He was living in Prague teaching English…..30something, unassuming, easy to sit with but a little unengaging…..overall harmless and unchallenging. He drank well and was an aspiring writer….liked to waste time. I tend to attract those types so he always talked to me.
(I’m eating a pizza and drinking a beer. He is just drinking.)
me: Why are you in Prague?
him: I can’t go back to the states.
me: Why?
him: I never paid back my student loans. That was almost 10 years ago.
me: How is life in Prague?
him: As good as it ever was in the states…which isn’t saying much.
me: What kind of stuff do you write about?
him: Usually I rant. You know, just talk about stuff and rant about it.
me: Yeah I know. How is that working out?
him: Not well at all. No one wants to read it.
me: Yeah….I try not to rant when I write. Other people don’t seem to care how much you hate the world, no matter how well its written. There is a super fine line between pointing out amusing inadequacies and sounding tired and bitter. Its hard to rant well.
him: The stuff I write is really good though. Everyone I ask tells me its good. I have some with me if you want to read it.
me: Uhhh….no thanks. I’m in a good mood sitting here drinking my beer. Why would I want to get all ruffled and have to think about some injustice or whatever? Ranting is fun to write I guess, but its like if you have a friend thats always in a bad mood. You quit calling them. Who wants to hang out with someone that always has something negative to say?
So we kept talking and stuff, but the moral of this little snippet is that I refuse to rant about stuff in my weblog. A little ranting is ok, but a lot is annoying. Keep it to yourself. There is way too much “sharing” of feelings going on these days. I like all that too, but there is a limit. Not everything buried is treasure.
Its odd how much there is to rant about and how little there is to inspire you. Have you ever read The Brothers Karamazov? Dostoevsky wrote Ivan’s little diatribe about “everything is lawful” in two weeks. It took him months to write the soaring religous wanderings of…….who was it?? Father Zossima I think. Its telling that I remember who ranted and what it was about while I remember the other only because it was the foil of the rant.
All this being said: I am now starting to rant about ranting….how annoying.
Maybe I should just be silent??
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