InnerTeub

“We can all write about suffering
with our eyes closed. You should show people
more of yourself; show them your clandestine
passion for red meat”
– Louise Gluck, “Rainy Morning”

Several years ago, I used to scan through a blog written by one of the recappers of Television Without Pity. Pamie wrote semi consistently and had built up a following of devoted and loyal readers, and was generally count-on-able for a quick hit of wit, humor, and, at the very least, distraction.

And then she’s stopped writing much. She left a note at one point, saying:

To be honest, the things I’d want to write here, the stuff that makes me enjoy writing pamie.com falls under two categories:

1. Things I’m not allowed to write about here, or at the very least I’m smart enough now to know that I shouldn’t, and

2. Stuff I want to write about but I haven’t had the time to sit down in order to write it properly.

…

So this place ends up being roller derby announcements and videos I saw and books I’m reading and is kind of a sad, sad space. I’m sorry. I really am, because I care very much about pamie.com. Eleven years is a long time to have this site. I just have to figure out what I’m going to do with it next.

And, I mean: who I am to argue? Life moves on and our need to share with the unidentified masses the thoughts in our head moves up and down in the importance ranking; I get it. But there’s something highly irritating about swinging by someone’s site only to read something that basically says nothing. And while there’s nothing wrong with that – I mean, there’s no final exam at the end, I don’t have to read someone’s blog if I don’t like it (“You owe me better free content! And NOW!”), the internet is really only as big as the sites I choose to visit, etc,  but I’ve been thinking about the blogs I really enjoy reading, and why I keep going back, and it really boils down to that quote from Louise Gluck: I love to read about your clandestine passion for red meat. And I miss it – I miss you – when you stop sharing.