My hate mail reminds me that I need to make a point about election cycles.

First off, let me apologize: trying to navigate Windows 8 AND the new format for YouTube means that I somehow managed to not keep a copy for people’s delectation.  I’m sure that the fellow will go through the trouble of creating a new anonymous account for the express purpose of telling me that I’m not worth anybody’s time, so there’s that, at least –

That reminds me:




Feel free. There’s a really cool Trail of Cthulhu supplement that I’d like to pick up; the family’s discretionary income fund is wayyyy down right now; and, honestly, the generosity of the Online Right’s readership pisses off the Online Left no end, largely because they apparently find it almost impossible to get crowd-funding*…

So, where was I? Oh, right: I’ve been doing this for over a decade now: I was elated in 2002, happy-with-shade-of-worry in 2004, gobsmacked-and-depressed in 2006, grim-and-fatalistic in 2008, giggling-madman in 2010, fighting-retreat in 2012… I have been up and down and everywhere in between, ladies and gentlemen. And here’s the thing: when I’m right I look like a genius and when I’m wrong I look like a dolt, and that’s fine. And that makes me just like everybody else in this gig.

Now, as it happens I am a genius – well, genius-minus, if you believe my high school file which I wasn’t supposed to read but I totally did that one time anyway – and, probably more importantly, I have whatever-it-is that makes people want to read my stuff, plus a healthy dose of luck that put me somewhere where I could get an audience. So let me use that reputation to tell you this, and what I tell you three times is true:

  • Nothing lasts forever.
  • Nothing lasts forever.
  • Nothing lasts forever.

We’ll be up and we’ll be down…  Sorry: I was going to pontificate more on this theme, but the eldest is downstairs now, and rather querulously insistent that there be goldfish crackers.  Which is really the important thing, of course.  So, to sum up: what goes around, comes around. And this is a comforting thought, really.

Also: oh, yeah, I like to try to monetize my hate mail.

Moe Lane

*Which is not nice, really. If you are a progressive, you SHOULD be throwing the odd bit of cash at progressive bloggers that you like. Some of those people apparently have trouble making rent.