Grotesque Anatomy
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Backblogged
OK, I've slowly been making my way through the backlog of writing I missed during my two weeks of vacation. It's kind of strange coming back and looking at some of the "controversies" that consumed the blogosphere while I was away (reaction to Brian Hibbs' column on bookstore and manga sales; whether or not superheroes are a genre worthy of serious criticism; whether or not superheroes are even a genre in the first place; the anticlimax that is X-Men ReLoad; whether or not the blogosphere has become the Borg cube; just how crazy is Dave Sim; and so on). I feel somewhat detached reading all of these topics -- more an intrigued anthropologist than an active participant. Even the discussions touching on one of my favorite topics to pontificate on, manga, don't really move me to join in. None of this is to say that I feel above any of the discussions that took place, or that I've now suddenly come to the conclusion that writing about comics is meaningless. It's just an observation that it feels very different to view topics with a bit more distance than one might normally have if one were actively engaged in the ongoing conversations. A big part of it is probably the "expiration date" factor: Given the immediacy of blogging, a lot of this probably doesn't read as well when it's not as fresh. It's kind of like when my parents visit and they bring me a stack of months-old Newsweeks: It's odd to page through them and think, "This is what the media was so obsessed about a couple weeks ago? Huh."
Now I'm tempted to look back through my old blog entries and see how odd my own old writing comes across. I'm sure I never wrote anything I'd regret or be embarrassed about, right? Right??
And something else I have to get around to: Updating the blogroll with all of the interesting new blogs that have sprung up recently. Sounds as though Tim O'Neil has really ratcheted up his coverage in Dirk Deppey's absence. Plus, Tim offers something that Dirk never did: Adorable pictures of kittens too cute for words! Who says this isn't the Blogging Age of Cute 'n' Cuddly Snark, True Believers?
Finally, your Vacation Photo of the Day:
OK, I've slowly been making my way through the backlog of writing I missed during my two weeks of vacation. It's kind of strange coming back and looking at some of the "controversies" that consumed the blogosphere while I was away (reaction to Brian Hibbs' column on bookstore and manga sales; whether or not superheroes are a genre worthy of serious criticism; whether or not superheroes are even a genre in the first place; the anticlimax that is X-Men ReLoad; whether or not the blogosphere has become the Borg cube; just how crazy is Dave Sim; and so on). I feel somewhat detached reading all of these topics -- more an intrigued anthropologist than an active participant. Even the discussions touching on one of my favorite topics to pontificate on, manga, don't really move me to join in. None of this is to say that I feel above any of the discussions that took place, or that I've now suddenly come to the conclusion that writing about comics is meaningless. It's just an observation that it feels very different to view topics with a bit more distance than one might normally have if one were actively engaged in the ongoing conversations. A big part of it is probably the "expiration date" factor: Given the immediacy of blogging, a lot of this probably doesn't read as well when it's not as fresh. It's kind of like when my parents visit and they bring me a stack of months-old Newsweeks: It's odd to page through them and think, "This is what the media was so obsessed about a couple weeks ago? Huh."
Now I'm tempted to look back through my old blog entries and see how odd my own old writing comes across. I'm sure I never wrote anything I'd regret or be embarrassed about, right? Right??
And something else I have to get around to: Updating the blogroll with all of the interesting new blogs that have sprung up recently. Sounds as though Tim O'Neil has really ratcheted up his coverage in Dirk Deppey's absence. Plus, Tim offers something that Dirk never did: Adorable pictures of kittens too cute for words! Who says this isn't the Blogging Age of Cute 'n' Cuddly Snark, True Believers?
Finally, your Vacation Photo of the Day:
