In which I am a contrary old geezer

[katallison]

I am feeling rather aged and grumpy and out of swing with the hip kids today, for several reasons:

(a) I'm not doing the Yuletide Treasures/Obscure Fandoms thingie. For a variety of reasons, most of which have to do with my writing-brain's apparently implacable powers of resistance to doing anything to spec. There's a whole ancillary set of ponderings here (which I'm too tired to play out at length) about how fanfiction and the writing thereof often serves as a sort of social currency--writing a nice bit of smut to cheer someone up, or as a birthday present or return for a favor or something--and while I quite like it that people do that, it's not something I can really do myself. Because, ultimately? My writing is all about me me me me me, not that I necessarily like that fact, but I've learned that to pretend I function otherwise is fairly unproductive.

(b) Also, though I'm delighted everyone is getting to have great fun with scads o' new icons, and I'm enjoying seeing the results, I really am not a prolific icon person myself, and am perfectly content with my measly ten. I like having a single signature icon that I use on most occasions, and whipping out a few alternates only in particular situations or moods. Then too, making really good icons requires skills in compression, selection, and brevity--rather like writing haiku, or witty postcards--and that's never been my forte.

(c) Nix likewise on the audblog thing; a bunch of years ago I was doing an internship in a mental health clinic, and my supervisor was determined that I'd learn how to dictate my case notes instead of writing them, and I discovered how hellishly difficult it is for me to produce orderly, well-composed sentences when I'm simply talking into a machine. I ended up having to type out my notes, edit them, and *then* read them into the recorder, and that's what I'd have to do with an audblog entry, which would kind of defeat the purpose.

So you kids, y'all go on and enjoy yourselves, I'll just sit here on the front porch, rocking and clacking my dentures and taking a nip out of the brandy bottle from time to time.

Comments

[popfantastic.livejournal.com]

Psssst, Kat, this is not being aged and grumpy. This is existing in the state commonly referred to as "Too Cool For That." I, for instance, am way too cool for all the riff-raff of LJ to hear my voice. Secret Santas? Likewise. Way too cool to write for deadlines, never mind for other people.

And I'm not outside the party, I'm beyond it. Parties going on inside like they wouldn't believe.

Be careful. If the hip kids see you on that rocker they may get ideas and try to co-opt it for their own nefarious mainstream purposes.

[lunaris1013.livejournal.com]

Just how did you get to be so damn wise, you little whippersnapper?

::sits back and knits, hoping The Kids don't catch on to that, too::

[halimede.livejournal.com]

::sits back and knits, hoping The Kids don't catch on to that, too::

Too late.