After reading Torman's post today I came back over to my own and banged out my response to the latest tempest in the OS teapot - maybe banged isn't exactly right, but here goes.

Torman says this...

Now out of respect for David, a very fine man and a published writer himself, I saved my gut response for my own blog...

"Emma Peel is promising a flounce as well, but says she will stick around for a bit longer.  Promises, promises.  Either go or stay, or get a new avatar and reinvent a fake bio and get on with it. So much ado." 

"I'm current on the events and issues, and applaud Stellaa for a quiet departure, since that's what she'd made up her mind to do.  She didn't have to do it, and neither does anyone else.  No one is 'driven' off, in fact Stellaa and CK say they're sailing.  Bon voyage ladies. Torman will miss you."

I know, I know.

But now that that's off my chest, I miss the days when the feed was slammed with top shelf writing and rapier wits clashed while pirate parties were manned by the Gutter Krew on Friday nights.  I miss the firecracker exchanges and the feeling I had in knowing I was seeing some of the smartest, brightest writing in the blogosphere unfolding right in front of me as fast as I could refresh my screen. It was a little magical.

I miss that energy.  I don't miss the internecine wars that could go on for days (weeks), or the foul sh*t flinging and the bombastic chest beating that could only be imitated by a claque of 7th graders.  That level of vitriol hasn't been seen here in some time, although the repetitive spamming of blogs with comments is pretty juvie.

The current blip is the tail end of a long war that has been going on since the old days.  It was never going to end well.  As long as any of the players remain, it will go on.  Taking sides at this late date is superfluous and just fuels the flames.

We can agree on the premise that has surfaced as the reason du jour for the most recent leavetaking of some of the old guard.  I will stand up and say: No one is to be outed here, or a body slam will follow and your ISDN will be identified and all of your accounts will be deleted and the # blocked. I think that's reasonable and prudent and I hope Kerry reads this.  I'm not, however, taking sides in a two year old battle between sworn enemies.  I've got no dog in that race. 

I think we have to remember that those who have moved on have done so for their own reasons, from boredom to time constraints to better mental health. Whatever.

It's a complicated social construct going on here, dating back to the summer of '08 - barely 3 years.  In the beginning was the word, or words, of the 'firsties' who invented a new lexicon and set up patterns of interaction and formed relationships both in and out of the OS virtual boundaries. 

What needs to be remembered is, things change with growth.  They change with time.  Evolution and devolution rise and fall. 

Today I offer all the best to all who've left, are leaving, and will be leaving.  Godspeed in your new adventures, and I hope you won't miss us too much. 

If you do, you know what to do. 

Footnote:  Me? I'm not going anywhere. Not unless I get a car and a driver.