Or..."Will sfbob never shut up?????"
I saw the milestone coming, figured it would be just that--a milestone. The comment-counter-thingie seems to have a bit of a personality. After checking into C&J on Tuesday morning I thought I had 9,998 to my credit but evidently the counter was a couple of comments behind (I dunno, maybe it updates when you aren't looking) so my 10,000th comment was a bit of snarkasm rather than something more...I dunno...meaningful.
I asked a couple of the good folks in the Kiddie Pool what they thought about the idea of writing a "personal, milestone" diary and they seemed to think it was a good idea. In fact they had specific suggestions. So, speaking of thingies, follow me over the orange squiggly thingie and I'll offer some history and reflections. I can't guarantee that they'll be meaningful reflections of course. But I suppose that's for the reader to decide.
Apparently I officially became a member of the Great Orange Satan on July 22, 2006 as UID 97252. I'd been an occasional reader before that for at least several months. If I'm not mistaken, I originally found Daily Kos by following a link in a comment on a site once run by a friend of mine called "Morons.org," a site with somewhat libertarian/contrarian/atheistic leanings and a somewhat sarcastic streak (somewhat like its founder).
I don't think there's ever been a time when I was inclined to vote for a Republican. I may have mentioned that before. There actually were some I might have considered; when I was a kid in northeast Queens we were represented in Congress by Seymour Halpern. Halpern was a Republican who at least sometimes won re-election by also running on the Liberal ticket. I don't think the Liberal Party exists in New York anymore; if I understand things there now it's essentially been replaced by the Working People's Party. Anyway, when I was a kid there were actually Republicans who were also unabashed Liberals. Can you imagine such a thing nowadays?
I come from a long line of Democratic voters at least on my mom's side of the family. How things stood on my dad's side I have no clue but whatever cues there were to be taken were taken from Mom, who was and is a very outspoken and progressive kind of person.
So it's not surprising I'd wind up on a blog like Daily Kos.
To tell you the truth I don't recall what I thought of the place when I first showed up, other than, because it was the midst of the Bush Adminstration, this place seemed uncharacteristically full of people who were angry and disaffected and seemed intent on fighting back against the colossal stupidity that characterized our government back then. So I felt at home. I suppose I should mention as well that I am an employee of the federal government, so I need to watch exactly what I say, lest I run afoul of the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act doesn't keep me from having an opinion, nor does it keep me from expressing it provided I do so as a private citizen rather than in an official capacity. So I guess I'm good there; I refer to my job only in general terms.
Anyway, it took me a bit of time to understand how things functioned here. Rec List? Tip Jars? Mojo? Flame war? HR? Troll? (the word has a specific meaning in the gay community--of which I am a part). Pie fights? Flame wars? FALME wars? What was all that about?
But what I did notice immediately was that by and large, the people here were articulate, well-informed, argumentative yet civil (mostly) and had a capacity for analysis which was well beyond what I was able to read in any of the conventional print media, with the occasional exception of The Nation. In terms of intellectual stimulation, I felt as though I was back in graduate school, but without the annoyance of classes, grades, egotistical professors and tuition bills. I was most definitely at home.
It took a week before I felt comfortable saying anything (I've always been a bit socially awkward; thus the internet has been a god-send as far as I'm concerned). My very first comment was on diary memorializing Murray Bookchin, a left-wing anarchist who I had enthusiastically read during my undergraduate days. Here's a link to it. Like most of my early comments it didn't get a great deal of attention.
Looking back at my early comments, most of them pretty much disappeared into the ether. Also looking back to see who tipped them, I'm struck by the fact while some names have a passing familiarity, I see virtually none of them here today. In fact the first comment of mine that has a name I know and love appeared in mid-November (Hi TBD; congrats on the new gig!). Also attached to that comment is dadanation who is practically my neighbor in real life and who sadly also does not drop in here nearly often enough, though I see he's dropped in this past evening. Hiya dada!
My true initiation came with my very first diary, posted on World AIDS Day 2006. It didn't get a great deal of attention but it DID get rescued. That often seems to happen to my diaries--they get ignored, then rescued. I'll take that as some form of vindication of my writing skills and choice of subject matter. A signal moment took place later the same day that my first diary appeared. I posted for the first time in Cheers & Jeers (it was a Friday afternoon) and I had my first interaction with the lovely and talented BillInPortlandMaine to whom all praise is due.
And the rest is history. Or hysteria. Or perhaps a bit of both.
It was suggested (and I hope she won't mind me quoting her here) that I
use {this diary} as an opportunity to talk about some of {my} experiences with kos, the good and the bad, why {I} choose to comment and when, what types of diaries attract {my} attention, stuff like that.
So here goes:
Experiences with kos: not that many; I sometimes comment on his diaries; he may once or twice have tipped one of my comments; it's possible he may have rec'd one of my 32 diaries (I comment much; diary little). I think I've occasionally even disagreed with Markos (I still do not particularly care for Operation Hilarity). He has yet to accept my friend request on Facebook.
Why do I choose to comment? I really in truth cannot say other than that something grabs me and provokes a response. If I have a strongly-held opinion and see a reason to express it, I go for it. If I see a space for information that I happen to possess (or think I do) I will offer it. Sometimes I'm wrong. That's life I suppose.
I am drawn to diaries pertaining to free speech, to civil rights, to union rights, to anything LGBT-related including HIV and AIDS, to stuff about California and its politics, to stuff about New York (where I'm from originally) and its politics, to DC (where I used to live) and its politics. Oh yes...and pootie diaries. Since Trapper and I own--or are owned by--a big orange tabby, I suppose that's merely common sense. I am a great fan of music video diaries if the music is from the 60's or 70's. I am drawn to discussions regarding religion, particularly Judaism since I'm Jewish. I'm worry a good deal about the threat of dominionism so I ALWAYS check out anything written by FrederickClarkson or troutfishing. I can be convinced to read diaries about what happens in Israeli politics but I stay the hell away from I/P diaries because they seem to bring out some of the nastiest and least temperate comments (and because I find the issue to be incredibly painful and, sadly I fear, not susceptible of resolution in any kind of way that will lead to peace, at least under the current circumstances...or at least as things stand none of the parties would accept a solution that is actually workable and sane). I try to comprehend the science diaries and usually fail. There are people here who I think of as friends in some sense, though we've yet to meet in person, so if they post something I'm likely to read it regardless of what its about. There are people here who I think are terrific writers so I will check their diaries out almost invariably (that would be weatherdude and Scottie Thomaston lately). The fact is that I spend far more time here than is entirely good for me and I hope that continues into the foreseeable future.