Thursday, February 7, 2008

That little Dickens!

















Trying to come up with a post a day is akin to being shackled in a Dickensian workhouse, no? Sure, the grime and injuries are mental instead of physical, but the pain is the same, right?

Oh, I exaggerate, mes amis.

A second post a day is where true suffering lies!

That, or listening to a Republican withdrawal speech.

But what isn't a tall tale is the greatness that was the output of Charles himself.
I don't need to tell you to go read his stuff, but I'm going to, nonetheless.

Go read his stuff.

Before we all turn into cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

23 comments:

Life As I Know It Now said...

When I can't think of anything I want to write about I look at other blogs instead. If after doing that I am still suffering from writer's block, I just say oh well what the hell. I used to force myself and created some bad posts that way.

Mary Ellen said...

Oh man, looking at that list of books reminds me of high school...the last time I read them. I guess I'll have to dust them off again.

Tomorrow I'm not doing a post on politics, I think I pissed off enough of my bloggers already. Sigh....

Suzi Riot said...

Dickens is in my top five of favorite reads. Depending on my mood, sometimes he's #1. Why stories of the injustice, cruelty, poverty, and grime of Victorian England appeal to me so much, I don't know.

I bet you prefer Hugo, you beret-wearing cheese eater!

Angie said...

I'm depressed just reading the titles.;)

My blog posting and reading has really started interfering with my job productivity. Maybe that's the REAL reason employee productivity is down. I wish! At least everyone could claim they were just having fun instead of our economy being down the tubes.

Some days posts are hard and I admire all of you that post once a day. I figure I don't have to post everyday, because you all already beat me to the most interesting stuff. Love your blog Randal.

Anonymous said...

RG, it's sit like this that keeps me up late at night. However, as far as blogposting goes, I'm with Liberality. I won't force myself to write.

Faded said...

For some reason, Randal, I doubt that either you or I are ever at a loss for words/blogposts... lol

pissed off patricia said...

I'm just so relaxed that Mittens dropped out and saved Hillary and Obama from waving the white flag to the terrorist.

Was that the most bizzare reasoning you ever heard? Whatever the hell Mittens smokes should be shared with the rest of us.

Do I have to bake a cake or something for Dickens? I mean it's not his happy birthday, is it?

Randal Graves said...

liberality, I hear ya, but I've learned to live with the bad posts. I did that stupid post-a-day back in November, and now I feel I have to put something up. It's a diabolical mental trap!

ME, you should. In fact, I insist! Oh hell, so you pissed some people off. Boo hoo, they'll get over it. We're not ALL going to agree on EVERYTHING. If we want lock-step thinking, we can just join the GOP.

suzi, well, I think we're naturally drawn to the dark side of things - I am anyway - and it IS that injustice, the machinery of what leads us down that path. Plus the dude could write a little.

J'adore les livres de Hugo, mais je ne possède pas un chapeau ! Le fromage ? Eh. It's okay sometimes. ;-)

angie, I don't know, I've read reports that say the US worker is back to #1 in hourly productivity. Of course, with March Madness coming up, we'll hear hand-wringing about billions of man-hours lost doing office pools. I find it hard to have too much sympathy for the corporations. ;-)

As for posting, I think nearly every day is hard. We all try to come up with something that we hope is at least mildly interesting - to us, anyway. Others do the in-depth political stuff so much better than I could, so I just toss up some bad snark or hope I come across something cool like the Degas thing. And thanks. :)

spartacus, I envy you guys. I really need to break this stupid "I must post!" Maybe today, because I've got zip.

fade, you're probably right, and that sentiment likely supersedes my comment to spartacus. Damn you, blogging!

POP, I'm wondering who told him to say that, one of his weirdo handlers, or the RNC or Unka Dick.
I was thinking about taking a day off next week, but I don't think I should because the terrorists would see our economy as weak.

Oh, it was his very very happy birthday. But you've already baked around 3 or 4, so we'll just get an ice cream cake from the store.

Mary Ellen said...

What? There's been cake around here and I didn't get any? Don't you guys realize that I'm addicted to sugar and I need my fix?

Blank said...

I was just writing a half-hearted post in which I was going to quote one of Dickens' best lines: "She touched his organ, and from that bright epoch even it, the old
companion of his happiest hours, incapable as he had thought of elevation, began
a new and defined existence."

"Please, sir, I want some more."

La Belette Rouge said...

I have had several boyfriends that loved Dickens. Based on that, I have made a logical fallacy; Jane Austen is to girls what Dickens is to boys. My He-weasel is a huge fan of the Christmas Carol. I think we own 20 different versions of the film.

Tom Harper said...

Damn right it's like working in a sweatshop to crank out a post every day. That's why I usually just do a post every other day. And if I can't think of anything to write about on Post Day, I might let it go for another day and end up posting on the 3rd day.

I feel so guilty, so dirty, when I do that.

Who Hijacked Our Country

Randal Graves said...

SWB, Dickens? Are you sure that wasn't from an RNC convention? Oh, nevermind. It begins with 'she.' You're correct.

LBR, You might be right, but I like Jane Austen, too. I mean, no I don't! Football! Beer! Boobies! Ooga ooga!

tom, that's a good way of putting it, but we should be careful. I think there's a section at Guantanomo for negligent bloggers.

An interesting dynamic to see is what gets commented on and what doesn't, vis-a-vis what you thought would happen. Obviously, the political shit gets more stuff than the non-political crap. I just can't do politics all the time, which is why it's probably good that you go a day or so in between stuff, lest you blow up from rage. I don't know how someone like tomcat posts 500 times a day. How he hasn't gone on a few murdering sprees after sifting through all this bullshit, I'll never know.

Dr. Zaius said...

Aunt Polly is a Muslim extremist!

Randal Graves said...

Don't forget Oliver Twist. They're using kids now!

Betty Carlson said...

Great Expectations is about my favorite book ever. It's a pity I don't really read the classics anymore -- why has age drawn me away from them somehow? I don't think it's just me -- other people have mentioned the same happening to them.

Anonymous said...

"...is akin to being shackled in a Dickensian workhouse" So true. Ah for the good old days when you could just post for the hell of it, not to impress all of your fellow bloggers with your herculean output.

Randal Graves said...

betty, I've heard that as well. It hasn't happened to me, but I read a bunch of non-fiction history junk, so I suppose it's that I haven't read as many of the classics as I'd like.

The good news is, now that you're aware of the problem, you can start rectifying it. :)

frogette, I agree completely. Which is why I spent hours (read: 5 minutes) creating today's YouTube-centered post. Now that was some hard work!

Anonymous said...

I am not sure how you come up with a post (or more) a day! Lately, it feels like I either am out of words or I hate what I write. Oh well, c'est la vie right.

Randal Graves said...

It's not like I put much thought into this one, and many others, so don't give me too much credit.

Unknown said...

Hey Randal,

I was just reading some Charles Dickens. But I could tell you which novel or what it was about except that it was a thick book and long winded.

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