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Maybe I'm just a gigantic asshole, but I don't see it at all.

In fact, I can't see how any story with "BUFFY CHANGED MY LIFE" as the central theme is going to stop me from being sarcastic. Seems like it should have the exact opposite result.

Any fine piece of literature, or, in this case, televisual entertainment, is capable of changing one's life. I adore Buffy-- it's my favorite show ever, even if there's a nice pile of bad episodes. When it was good, it was really good, and was basically literature in TV form. It helped push me in the direction of becoming a writer, along with several other things, and I'm glad to have encountered it. The structure of it, the dialogue, the characters...! Marvelous.

Buffy #10 is probably the best issue of this Season Eight yet, as it finally captures the thing this book's been missing: heart. Emotional character pieces were the best bits of Buffy, and I'm glad to have it back.

Paul, remove the "Maybe" and change the comma to a period in your first sentence, deleting everything thereafter, and your post is perfect. Here's what it looks like:

"I’m just a gigantic asshole."

Now why don't you go tell some kids that Santa's not real?

And I'm glad you're glad, Bill. (Seriously - no snark there.)

But my cold black heart just isn't touched by 'crazy lady finds solace in genre TV.' I'm sure her condition is tragic, and maybe the actual entry letter written by the husband is really compelling, but the article I just read doesn't elicit the same kind of reaction for me as it did for Brian by a longshot.

I don't want to be mean...I just don't agree.

Good talk, Sluggo! Will do.

I can't make myself read something about Buffy changing someone's life, I'm sorry. Tears and sarcasm and the sadness of life's patheticness would overwhelm me.

I'm sure Paul's going to get hammered more and more throughout the day, so I thought I'd chime in with a perspective:

Paul, usually I agree with people like you who think others who "find solace" in genre TV (or anything else, for that matter) pretty goofy. However, schizophrenia is a serious disease, and anything that helps someone lead a somewhat "normal" life is probably a good thing. I'm not as touched by the article as Brian, or others, might be, but I'm not about to deny that it's a nice story, because as hard as it is to live with someone with a disability (and I do), it's good to find things that make it easier. Yes, the story is a bit schmalzty. But again, it's a different set of circumstances for this woman, and I think it's nice that she was able to deal with her illness a bit better because of Joss Whedon's television series. I don't think you're an asshole, but have you had a lot of experience with disabled people and what gets them through the day? You take what you can find, in those situations.

Of course, now I'll probably get hammered for not piling on you.

Paul - it's not "crazy lady finds solace in genre TV" so much as it's "a woman who is getting crazier and crazier manages to share her last human moments with her husband via a genre TV show".

Big difference. I'm sure there are lots of crazy people who like Buffy (or any show), but this is an instance where they had their last human moments together...

Yeah, several in my own family have suffered from mental illnesses, actually. Maybe that desensitizes me to it?

Seriously, it's good that this lady and her husband found some comfort in cheesy monster-killing, and good that Joss & Co. all feel that a good thing has been done. But I guess it just takes more than that to block the snark for me. I honestly don't know why I commented in the first place. It was definitely a mistake, so I'm sorry for that. Anyway, please go on with your sensitive selves. You make the world a better place. (No snark.)

I can’t make myself read something about Buffy changing someone’s life, I’m sorry. Tears and sarcasm and the sadness of life’s patheticness would overwhelm me.

Um, yeah, what he said. Like Paul, I have had some intimate experience with mental illness in my family, and I understand the 'whatever gets you through' concept in full.

Still, in order to affect me to the extent that my snark instincts are suppressed, this story would have to involve something a bit more...ultimately meaningful...than a TV series where cute witty kids battle Evil.

"Still, in order to affect me to the extent that my snark instincts are suppressed, this story would have to involve something a bit more…ultimately meaningful…than a TV series where cute witty kids battle Evil."

So your capacity for empathy with another human being has the caveat that whatever helps them cope with a rapidly deteriorating diease must comport with your definition of what is and is not worthwhile? Nice.

And Paul, I'm glad that you don't care that you're an asshole and you backtracking to state that you should not have posted and that we sensitive souls should carry on does not change the fact that your post was ignorant, arrogant, mean-spirited and unnecessary. Basically, the definition of an asshole.

But then you don't care, do you?

Still, in order to affect me to the extent that my snark instincts are suppressed, this story would have to involve something a bit more…ultimately meaningful…than a TV series where cute witty kids battle Evil.

Mock the show all you want based on its premise or logline or whatever, but when one actually looks at the show as a story, it becomes so much more than that. I know there's a big scholarly audience-- hell, even I've written a big ol' paper on Buffy before. It's more than just silly genre TV, man.

Regardless, we should be focusing not on what the show is, but that it was a piece of the world that served as a focal point for this woman and enabled her and her husband to find a new point of equality, to share something together even as her mind is slipping away into a disease. Maybe some other piece of TV or something could have done that too, but it's wonderful that, because of this particular show and its comic book incarnation, this woman gets to become a piece of the mythos that she and her husband treasured so much.

Wow. People who debate about comic books are being snarky about somebody getting something from a television show?

"Irony...it's good for the blood!"
- Stephen King

"Wow. People who debate about comic books are being snarky about somebody getting something from a television show?"

What has that got to do with anything? If the story was strictly about comics, it would still be as shmaltzy, if not moreso.

And, Sluggo, I did kinda care about being an asshole for a second, but the awesome power of your self-righteousness is threatening to nip that right in the bud. I apologized for posting my feelings and ruining what was sure to be a feelgood group hug thread. You can accept that and move on, or you can keep harping like an old woman on what a horrible person with no morals I must be.

Thanks, Paul, for illustrating the point without the need for further comment from me.

You're welcome.

You know, I hate Buffy-- in fact my feelings toward it are almost the opposite of Bill Reed's-- but I found the story Brian linked to very moving. Because regardless of my feelings about Buffy, I have to admit someone saying "I want my wife in a comic book because Buffy gave her some solace before a mental illness took her away from me" is not the reason you expect for a contest where I'm sure many entries were along the lines of "I just squee whenever I see Buffy and Angel together".

There are lots of things we're fans of and they're subjectively considered brilliant and horrible depending on who you are. It's humbling to hear of one such thing providing a sort of comfort and help beyond the ordinary. And it's sad to hear comic book fans--themselves the very epitome of enthusiasts of things subjectively considered brilliant and horrible-- not getting that.

So your capacity for empathy with another human being has the caveat that whatever helps them cope with a rapidly deteriorating diease must comport with your definition of what is and is not worthwhile? Nice.

Since you apparently didn't read it the first time: I have had some intimate experience with mental illness in my family, and I understand the ‘whatever gets you through’ concept in full.

This story, however, is being presented as having much wider Meaning than merely one woman's use of a media coping mechanism.

I still don't have a whole lot of objection to it on those grounds; especially not after reading Bill's and Graeme's actually thoughtful, polite rebuttals.

The only thing I do reserve is the right to wish this woman had been able to 'find solace' in a place that presented her with something truly grand and great...which, in my own personal opinion, isn't Buffy.

Sorry for hijacking this thread even so far, Brian. My part ends here.

Well put, Graeme. You said it much better than I did.

I dpon't think Brian said anything about deep "Meaning" -- nice ironic capitalization there, fella! -- other than describing it as "sweet and sad." And it is, I think, undeniably sweet and sad, whatever you think of Buffy or Joss Whedon, that this provided a way for a husband to maintain some kind of slim connection with his schizophrenic wife.

Buffy isn't what's moving here, nor the specific object of this woman's lucidity -- the lucidity itself is the story along with the reaction of the people producing themass-produced thing that happens to be that lucidity's psychological anchor. It happens that it's a comic about a cancelled TV show. It could just as easily have been a commemorative coin, or a stuffed animal, or Jay Leno.

Then some other blog's equivalents of Joe Rice and Paul could have chimed in to tell the rest of us how pathetic a schizophrenic woman's limited coherence in response to those equally mass-produced, unserious things might be. And then they'd go home and not have to deal with anything remotely as difficult as the situation in which these two people in the posted article have found themselves.

I'm sorry for km that the woman in the article didn't run her moments of coherence past the New Yorker's book critics beforehand. Schizophrenia can be a bitch that way.

Hold on, Omar. KM may have twisted Brian's words a little bit, but don't twist mine. I'm not some villain who thinks this woman or her situation or even what she did in her situation was "pathetic," and I never said that. I just don't find it heartwarming or bittersweet or what have you.

Given a little more thought, I actually find it potentially troubling. It's always at least a little weird to hear about a grown woman with her walls covered in posters of any kind.

But this is obviously quite different than a functioning adult with horrible taste and stunted maturity. We're talking about a very sick woman, one who requires treatment, not coping mechanisms.

It's true we don't know the details of her illness or her treatment. But when her husband says she found "Drusilla," a fictional character (an over-the-top evil crazy vampire one, at that), to be a role model...it highlights what could be a real problem.

I love wallowing in crappy genre TV as much as the next guy. Hell, I've watched some Buffy in my time. But you have to take it for what it is. You can't overvalue it as it sounds like this couple may have.

How "lucid" can her moments of lucidity be if all she can talk about is a fictional world with vampires and monsters? I can't really blame the guy for taking whatever he could get, but at the same time, that doesn't make it the right thing to do. This woman seeing herself in a funnybook could actually make things worse.

But I'm not a mental health professional, and I'll repeat that I don't claim to know these peoples' specifics. I just don't necessarily believe indulging a sick woman's fantasy life is automatically the right thing to do.

That said...there's a chance it won't do any harm, and maybe it IS a good thing...but I'm not ready to pat MySpace and Dark Horse on the back for it with this little detail.

I shouldn't have been flip about it, though. Can't take it back, but I was wrong about that.

I'm not patting Dark Horse or anyone on the back about anything. I'm simply arguing that anything that gives this woman a few moments of coherence is just fine.

As to why she might have latched onto those particular characters...well, to be honest, as goofy as they may be, I can't think of many other mass-media characters who are consistently and even remotely accurately written as schizophrenics. Sociopaths and obsessive-compulsives abound in mass media fiction, but it's just darned hard to name many schizophrenic characters who have the disorder in more than (misapplied) name.

In any case, in severe schizophrenia, merely consistently recognizing some piece of the world, even a silly, disposable piece of it, is a damned big deal. Read about the disorder -- it's not about wacky delusions or the like, it's about being lost in a sea of random, often utterly illogical and disjunct moments. Schizophrenics don't produce logic, not even things that work via a kind of fantasy logic: they produce so-called "word salad." There's not even a narrative coherence to the schizophrenic mind, so that finding any sort of narrative coherence is Really Important.

As I said, it doesn't matter if it's a gory goofy vampire character or Peter Cottontail; it's still a moment's respite from the mental disorder, and a moment in which her husband can feel as if his wife isn't completely lost in that disorder. These are not "fantasies" being "indulged," because the degree of mental illness reported in the article doesn't admit of event he coherence with which an extended fantasy might be sustained.

I've spoken and volunteered with schizophrenics before, and something like this can make them more manageable, and very nearly or actually able to relate to the outside world. And it's very often something silly or fantastic, something without loads of intellectual or emotional weight that does it. A schizophrenic is not going to pull together enough to read Anna Karenina or listen to Bach and find solace or points of identification in them. Judging the thing they can relate through is the very, very last thing these people and their loved ones need.

Worrying over just what it is that prompts that moment of lucidity or recognition is the height of pettiness. It's being so arrogant in one's own tastes or opinions as to be willing to heap scorn on two people in an insanely difficult situation, and worse, to scorn something that helps at least one of them get through that situation. None of that makes Whedon or Dark Horse into saints, but it's still, for me, at least, moving.

Wow.

Paul- The article didn't say watching Buffy was an alternative to treatment. It didn't say Buffy was all Robin could or would talk about. "Indulging her fantasy life?" I don't recall the article mentioning Robin confusing Buffy with reality.

Why so harsh, Paul, Joe, & km? What is the point of posting negatively about such a sad story? Maybe you're not moved, fine, but why go out of your way to say so?

I don't believe I heaped scorn on these two people anywhere. I heaped a little scorn on Sluggo. And maybe on what I found to be a false premise ("this is sweet"), and their taste, but definitely not them. I don't know them and I've never spoken to them.

I conceded in the last post that this MAY be a good thing. But I'm just not willing to accept it at face value. Not without more facts about them. You've given me some good general knowledge about the disease, but really I'd need to hear more from the man and, more importantly, her doctors, to be convinced.

And, again, I don't blame this man for trying to hold on to his wife however he could. I just wasn't touched by the story of her being chosen to appear in a comic book. And I know at this point that I shouldn't have said anything. I'd just shut up, but I don't want any misunderstandings about my intent.

It strikes me that a lot of this has as much to do with the way the Internet really increases the level of voyeurism in which we engage on a daily basis. We look in endlessly on the lives of complete strangers in a way that even reality TV doesn't allow us to.

It also invites us, and sometimes seems to compel us, to speak...even when silence is the better option.

And so you have a comics company presenting the story of mentally ill woman, her husband, and their contest; people like us on a message board making judgement calls and (myself included) proffering utterly unqualified medical opinions and all the rest.

Anyway, I'll apologize for tossing out my own brand of scorn and moral condemnation here. I disagree with what Joe and km and Paul have respectively posted, but really, who cares if I do? It's not important enough for me to get angry about, let alone to keep blathering about.

You're absolutely right, Mike. I am well aware I made a faux pas. Never should have said a thing. I've said as much many times. It was rude of me.

"The article didn’t say watching Buffy was an alternative to treatment. It didn’t say Buffy was all Robin could or would talk about. “Indulging her fantasy life?” I don’t recall the article mentioning Robin confusing Buffy with reality."

Well, it did say she considered Drusilla and River to be role models, which I find concerning. Maybe you're of the opinion that it's okay to have a fictional character as a role model. I'm just not sure that's healthy.

Your two points above that I never claimed.

Good show, Omar. For my part, I'm sorry I upset you even momentarily. Thanks for being the bigger man.

As nastily as I put it, what I mean is, I can't even begin to read this woman's story, because it's too goddam sad. Her illness is sad. The fact that her last lucidity was all about this dumb tv show is sad. It's all very sad in a way that I deal with plenty already, and have to draw the line at reading comic book competitions. If the woman's last solace was, I dunno, something well-written like a Chandler novel or the Office or the Black Dossier, it would also be incredibly sad. I just don't need more sad, especially attached to something so vacuous.

"It’s true we don’t know the details of her illness or her treatment. But when her husband says she found “Drusilla,” a fictional character (an over-the-top evil crazy vampire one, at that), to be a role model…it highlights what could be a real problem."

I'm pretty sure that the part where she's falling deeper and deeper into schizophrenia is the "real" problem, Paul.

Not here -- here, the "real" problem is that you're deliberately being an asshole to no end, and even after you agree there's no reason for you to be posting here, you keep doing it.

But, in the story, I'm pretty sure that the part that's the "real" problem is that she's a schizophrenic and getting worse. The thing that highlights the real problem is when she's incapable of carrying on any sort of conversation because her mind doesn't work that way anymore.

Admiring a fictional character? Shit, if that's all it took to be schizophrenic, most of the posters on this website would be in the booby hatch.

"I don’t believe I heaped scorn on these two people anywhere."

Really?

I think most people would find these things scornful:

"It’s always at least a little weird to hear about a grown woman with her walls covered in posters of any kind."

"You can’t overvalue it as it sounds like this couple may have."
(Yes, he overvalued the fact that it appealed to the small part of her brain that was still the woman he married. GET SOME PERSPECTIVE MISTER HUSBAND!)

"I just don’t necessarily believe indulging a sick woman’s fantasy life is automatically the right thing to do."

"I can’t really blame the guy for taking whatever he could get, but at the same time, that doesn’t make it the right thing to do."
[For somebody who (a) repeatedly says "I don't know these people", and (b) I'm not a mental health professional, you sure seem to dwell on the idea that this is a bad idea, and make assumptions (such as Buffy-in-lieu-of-therapy) to "prove" your beliefs]

"We’re talking about a very sick woman, one who requires treatment, not coping mechanisms."
(That comes off as scornful to anybody who knows that there is no treatment of schizophrenia which is particularly successful, certainly not in any guaranteed way, and that coping mechanisms can be all these poor people have)

That's just one post.

You should walk away. You're coming off as a bad human being.

I found the story touching. I hope knowing that other people, strangers he's not met, including the creator of her favorite TV show, care about his wife helps the husband through what must be terrible times. I hope he never sees this comment thread, too.

But sean, as Omar so nicely pointed out, it probably is better to just let Paul's post go by, rather than argue the point. Is it really so important for Paul to be branded for his stance?

I stand by the things I said in that post and don't agree with your interpretation of it. If you want to talk about it further, you (or anyone) can email me at this address: plteel at gmail.com.

One more time, I apologize for ruining the thread. I'm actually not a bad human being, however I came off. Just a guy who made a mistake opening his fat mouth when he shouldn't have. Please take a page out of Omar's book and don't let one guy's thoughtlessness get to you.

Besides, there's no such thing as a good human being.

Maybe I'm an asshole, too, but all I got from that article is that they picked the contestant with the saddest story, so they could capitalize on it the most.

Don't forget for one second that this is a sales tactic. They chose the story they did, because it's seemingly bulletproof. Regardless of the quality of the story, if people don't talk about how touching and powerful it is, they're ostracized and called an asshole.

"The Buffy comic is doing something nice for a person with big problems."

"And charging you money to come watch."

"Don't ruin this for me, asshole!"

I don't see why one's opinion of BUFFY for good or ill should enter into this AT ALL. "I just don’t need more sad, especially attached to something so vacuous" is making an issue of the fact that something important to her doesn't meet your aesthetic standards (and this is a subjective matter, as critical responses to the show vary widely.)

If the property in question was BAYWATCH or CSI: MIAMI or TAROT, my view of the story would be no different, because what I think of those stories DOESN'T MATTER.

Apodaca, I don't buy the "sales tactic" BS. I didn't even pay any attention to the contest and, when I was looking through the Previews that solicited this ad, I didn't jump up and say "ALRIGHT! Now I have a reason to buy 20 copies of Buffy because they're going to have the contest winner in the story! Whoo-hoo!" (In point of fact, Previews didn't make a single mention of this little event.) That's to say NOTHING of the fact that there's NOTHING on the cover that promotes the contest winner (unless it's in some sort of hidden ink that needs some type of special method to reveal it).
In point of fact, this could be the anti-Superman/Batman #25. You know, the book that was nothing BUT a publicity "stunt". Compare how similar the two are in how they came out. "Jeph Loeb's son came up with the story idea. And wow! There's even a little story that was inspired by Sam Loeb's death in it. And, cool! All those artists who contributed pages--well, that's good for collector purposes! Not to mention the variant covers! Oh, and there's even a promotional bit for a little scholarship set up in Sam's name!" Superman/Batman #25 was hyped from the start as being "for Sam". Buffy #10 was not.
The story that appeared in the Buffy COMIC (the one where Buffy and Willow go to that little cottage and where the "crazy girl" is sitting outside) can be read by ANYONE without any knowledge that the "crazy girl" was based on a real person and you know what? The lack of knowledge doesn't strengthen or weaken the character in the story, nor does the story itself become "embiggened" (to borrow from the Simpsons) or diminished by knowing that one of the characters is based on a real person.
Now, the SEPARATE MATTER of the LETTER, well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. It is a touching letter, and anyone (especially a comics fan) who would get into a "whoa--this man and his wife must be losers if they're that wrapped up in Buffy" snit IS an asshole. Comics fans have been FURIOUSLY debating Marvel's recent "One More Day" storyline without people calling each other assholes just because THEY are wrapped up in a fictional story. I suppose all those geeks and losers who spend small fortunes just to win a stupid costume contest at a Con or spend hours and days lined up to watch a stupid movie (liek Star Wars) can be excused from their being so deeply wrapped up in their fictional stories because they're somehow "better" than Buffy?
You want to avoid the asshole label? Don't act like you're somehow "better" than fans of something which doesn't affect you as strongly. If you're a fan of comics, you've got SOMETHING that gets to you, that will cause you to gush with wild praise or scream furiously in condemnation at some point, that will find some affect on you at a personal level. Otherwise, you're just a reader and you really shouldn't give a **** over a comment at a website.

Anyway, I’ll apologize for tossing out my own brand of scorn and moral condemnation here. I disagree with what Joe and km and Paul have respectively posted, but really, who cares if I do?

Well, I do, for starters; at least about my bit. I know I said I was ending it, but the ensuing comments are a little too much to let pass.

Honestly, Omar, I'm not quite sure you understand what I wrote. One more time: I do not begrudge this woman her coping mechanisms in the slightest; I know far too much about how necessary they are. Hell, some of my own media security blankets have involved Idol shows, I've got no place to heap scorn from.

I simply don't see this woman's story as a springboard to begin celebrating anything larger than that - I should've said 'importance', rather than 'Meaning', perhaps that would've made things a little clearer. (The capitalization, BTW, wasn't deliberately ironic. I'm a wannabe writer, I like to play around with words and different ways to get their meanings across. That's all.)

If I misread that as the intent of the initial post, then that's one more thing to apologise to Brian for. Believe me when I say I am now entirely sorry for posting at all, in what was supposed to be a feel-good thread. That was a bit of pointlessly ironic posturing.

I thank you for taking the time to educate me and others on the realities of schizophrenia. And oh, incidentally...I'm not a fella.

I've always thought that Faith and Drusila made such excellent role models.

I'm bad, I know, I know.

Apodaca, I don’t buy the “sales tactic” BS.

There's nothing for you to "buy". It's not BS, it's a matter of fact. They held a contest to sell more copies of the book. They picked a story accordingly. Notice how the story was on CBR's front page. That's pure advertising.

Comics fans have been FURIOUSLY debating Marvel’s recent “One More Day” storyline without people calling each other assholes just because THEY are wrapped up in a fictional story.

Uh, what? People have been calling each other EVERYTHING, just because they're wrapped up in a fictional story. This very blog just had a comedy article based on calling people on both sides names for being so wrapped up in OMD.

I suppose all those geeks and losers who spend small fortunes just to win a stupid costume contest at a Con or spend hours and days lined up to watch a stupid movie (liek Star Wars) can be excused from their being so deeply wrapped up in their fictional stories because they’re somehow “better” than Buffy?

Again, I'm totally confused. I think you're making assumptions about people based on what you want to argue against. If you knew Paul or me, you'd know that we've both ridiculed those people you mention without restraint. With less mercy, even. I don't understand why you seem to think I or Paul represent cosplayers and line-sitters.

You want to avoid the asshole label? Don’t act like you’re somehow “better” than fans of something which doesn’t affect you as strongly. If you’re a fan of comics, you’ve got SOMETHING that gets to you, that will cause you to gush with wild praise or scream furiously in condemnation at some point, that will find some affect on you at a personal level.

I don't really care about being labeled an asshole. That's why I allowed that I might be one, first thing. And I find your argument that being a fan of anything is equal to being a fan of anything else totally absurd. Being a fan of The Office is better than being a fan of The Bachelor. One show is smarter than the other, and more respectable. Being a fan of Mark Waid is better than being a fna of Jim Balent. I don't think I have to explain that one.

Otherwise, you’re just a reader and you really shouldn’t give a **** over a comment at a website.

I said my piece. You're the one who's responding to a comment at a website. Paul said his piece, and people freaked out about a comment at a website.

So, yeah, I don't know what you're talking about, there. Maybe you should take a few breaths.

You see, I think aesthetic standards justify saying that one work is better than another, but to cross that line to say that being a fan of one work is BETTER than being a fan of another is just- well, the word "elitist" gets overused a lot but I think it may actually apply here.

Brian,

Thanks for the post! I haven't picked up this series yet since I only caught one or two episodes of the show, but this issue has a decent enough hook to get me to check it out.

I’ve always thought that Faith and Drusila made such excellent role models.

Faith actually does, when you look at the big picture. She made some huge mistakes, but she eventually took responsibility for them, accepted her punishment, and has tried to do good since.

Now that I think about it, Buffy changed my life. My wife wanted a son and I really wasn't too hot the idea, mainly because I couldn't think of a name I liked. We were watching season 5 episode 2 and just naming names of any character we saw. We threw out Xander and it stuck. So now I have a six year old boy whose main mission in life is to spread legoes to every corner of the house.

ps, IMHO all the discussion around Paul's comment is pretty elliptical since BC originally said the story was "sad and sweet". "Sad", I'm assuming since any couple who needs a fictional universe as a touchstone of sanity should make anyone sad, and "sweet" since it is a fine thing that this couple has somewhere to meet occasionally on their way to the clearing at the end of the path. Any Snark-free post is probably 50% troll-bait, so I'm willing to cut Paul some slack (while still getting a dig in) for drawing the short straw. If he hadn't been so enthusiastic as to post his opinion first, he could have been largely ignored. That is also sad and sweet.

Thanks for the slack, Josh. I'm grateful you're able to--hey, waitaminute...

Oh, well. If the dig fits.

Listen, guys...I'm trying not to be the typical troll here, anyway...I made a huge mistake by posting in the first place. Rude, shithead behavior in general. The Snark-Blocker is not a challenge! But then I reacted to Sluggo's flames of holy judgment exactly the way he wanted me to, so I came off even worse. That was my second mistake.

I come to you contrite. I'd just like everyone to consider the slim possibility that maybe I simply made a mistake and said something really out of place in a very stupid way this morning. Maybe I don't really hate mentally ill strangers. I know it's more fun (fun? maybe just easier?) to think that, though, so after this I'll leave you to it. You can send me hate mail at the address above, and I will take it, because I deserve it! Or maybe you know it was only a mistake, but you just want to harp on it some more...please go ahead and email me that, too. No sense making the thread I turned ugly into something even uglier.