I made a promise to myself that I was done with the preachy posts because one, I risk wrinkling my plastic head over sterning, and two, it doesn't do any good.  Only the choir reads the church bulletin.

But as we know, all promises are made to be broken (not really, but don't I sound all cool cynical there?  Sort of Bette Davis like.  What a dump.).  So I'm going to vent a little, but then offer some good information, so I'm only half sinning.  Now pay attention.

You can tell I'm serious.  Look at how flat my hair is.

Plagiarism is wrong.  Now if y'all want to argue about who did what where and when, have at it, but that doesn't alter the fact that plagiarism is wrong.  And while we're at it, you can't be a little bit of a plagiarist.  It's like being pregnant, or Italian.  And while I'm being all tacky and saying stuff that probably shouldn't be said, it's also big time wrong to just make up something to swipe at someone.  If you're going to make some big horrible claim, please don't go public with what you're saying until you have the time to present the proof to go along with it.  Otherwise it looks like you just pulled something out of your foot hole to be dramatic with.  You're suppose to leave that kind of drama mongering to me.  I think there are big bunch of people running around here playing tag.  You don't care what you're fighting about, as long as you're fighting each other.  Which brings me to the educational portion of my post:

You know how you tell kids that aren't getting along with each other to just stay out of each others way?  That's the best advice I can give to people all puffed up from their interactions on OS.  I know it's not easy to do that, but one thing that makes it easier is to set up an RSS reader.  There are several good ones out there (I don't like the ones where you just click the RSS button to add a feed.  About half the time that goes wonky for me).  I've tried a few and the one I like best is Google Reader.  You can find it by going to Google.com.  At the top of the page there's an arrow next to the word "more."  Click on that and a drop down menu appears.  Choose "Reader."  Now if you don't use gmail, you might have to set up an account.  All that entails is telling Google your current mail address.  It grants you instant access after that. 

Open the Reader page.  At the top left side you'll see "add a subscription".  Click that and a box appears for you to paste in a url.  To do that, open the front page of someone's blog (not an individual post).  Let's use that hunk Sheldon's blog as an example.  You would use this: http://open.salon.com/blog/sheldon_the_wonderhorse as the url to paste in.  When you do that and click "add" you'll see that it pops up on the left feed and shows you the number of posts available.  What's cool about this is you can click on that link now and see all the current posts by that person.  You'll have to click on "mark all items as read" as you move through your list, but once you've done that, you'll be able to see instantly if that person has a new post you haven't read.  Setting up an RSS reader will enable you to still read the people you want to on OS but you can avoid if you wish all the associated drama.  I read a lot of blogs out there, many not on Open Salon (::gasp::).  It is possible to appreciate the writer and not have to like everyone that comments or reads the same writer.  A shocking thought, I'm sure.  Using the reader will also allow you to bypass the dreaded ::dah dah dum:: FRONT PAGE.

I'm as guilty as the rest of y'all in watching the circus when it comes to town.  I'm not trying to pose as someone superior (though I am).  But if you just downright can't stand someone, stay away from interacting with them.  Yes I know there will be issues you feel passionate about that will be bandied about from time to time, and join into that fray when you feel compelled for moral reasons (or if you're just really bored and there's nothing good on tv right then).  But know that when you do that essentially people are nuts.  Just nuts.  You can't control what other people are going to do, and you need to remember that every time you put your heart and ego on the line for an issue.  Yes, yes, I know it shouldn't be that way, but it just IS.  Also know this when you post on Open Salon.  Since we don't have any censoring tools here, you've got to remember that except for the delete key, it's the wild west in Commentville (note to Facebook, Commentville, get on it).  If that really bothers you, then you need to find another platform to publish from that offers those tools and I'm not saying that in a get a grip kind of way.  I totally get that some of the stuff on Open Salon is causing some negative impact that carries into your real life, and that's a shame.  Writing should give you pleasure, or a feeling of accomplishment, not the feeling that you need to scrape the sticky mess off your brain.  Otherwise, maybe you can try to close your posts with a plea for only positive, affirming comments.  Good luck with that.

Now I'm sorry you had to wade through another preachy, sanctimonious post, but remember, at least this one was written by me.

Don't make me do it...

ONLY POSITIVE, AFFIRMING COMMENTS PLEASE