14 On The 14th For My 14

Fourteen years ago today (March 14, 1998 at about 2:00AM, to be exact) I, or more exactly, the Asbestos Dust persona arrived on the social media scene. Social Media at that time consisted primarily of newsgroups. I arrived, a starry-eyed innocent, my jester bells jingling with gentle good humor, filled right to the nostrils with bonhomie and a variety of  other fruity, limp-wristed French words.

Me In The Innocent Early Days

The rigors of combat prose, of course, devastated me. I was a sheep among wolves, my heart on my sleeve, my soul torn almost daily by those who abused my naivete...I had to develop a certain edge, of course, a bit of hardness, a little coarseness. But through it all, I like to think my essential nature showed through.

My Essential Nature

Now, after all this time I find myself with this blog and, somewhat less usefully, a Google + account. My unceasingly gentle good humor and light touch have driven almost all away. "Too saccharin," they say, "Pollyanna dipped in honey and fairy dust."

These jabs hurt. Really.

I mean, I've shed some fat tears over it all, especially as some of my favorites have drifted away.

I find that I'm down to about 14 who check in on some irregular schedule, some a couple of times a week, some once every couple of months, and everything in between. It will be quite awhile before they all see this, doubtless. But when they do, for those 14 on the 14th on my 14th - thanks...writing is such a pain in the ass, I'm glad to know it's going for the occasional entertainment of the best, even when I know it's mostly just to amuse myself.

In Our Next Episode: In the continued vein of family fare and warm, fuzzy writing, a few words on Redheads. Specifically, we'll warn yet again that nosing around after the wrong one can get you in a bind.

Totally worth it.