This is a mirror to my Upcoming page, more or less. The format for Blogger is not the format for Upcoming, so the two locations can't look the same, but I'll be posting the same notices and writing to both. This is a sort of microblogging, I'd like to hold onto my work, and I've got a hunch that Upcoming is going to be sunsetted in the not too distant future, so a mirror location is needed. As practically everybody alive has a Google account, and none of the companies usually thought of as direct competitors to Upcoming, this seemed to be to be a good place to set up that sort-of mirror.
Understand that you are in my virtual living room, and you are here as a guest. I don't mind having guests, at all, but let's get one thing straight from the beginning - I do not subscribe to the notion that there is a first amendment right to be rude in the location of one's choice, or that getting invited to a party is an entitlement. If I find somebody to be tiresome or inconsiderate company, I'll ask him to go away, period, without holding any hearings or debates on the subject, just as people used to in the evil old days before Political Correctness scrambled everybody's brains, some years back.
I bring this up because I have dealt with the sort of person who thinks that any group or forum run by a person may be used as a guestbook for any page he has ever written, and will assign himself a right to cyberstalk anybody who has ever disagreed with one of his fringe-ish views. About what, hardly seems to matter. Did I fail to validate his incorrect working of a math problem, use garlic in a dish (I kid you not, somebody had a religious objection to that), or not grant that executing rape victims for sexual immorality was a valid cultural choice? He'll pursue me to the ends of the earth, and as far as he's concerned, the argument won't be over until he says it's over.
What I'm telling people is that I'm not going to tolerate any such interventions. We're here to have fun, period. Respect that, or get lost. As for those who find such directness off putting, go ask a psychologist what the word "enabling" means, and yes, go away. It's time for some peace and quiet, and to be no blunter than I need to be, if you can't handle the whining of a net weenie who feels persecuted because somebody told him to go away and stop being a pest, you really aren't going to be able to handle the streets of Chicago very well, anyway. The last thing I need when I go out into a violent city is the company of somebody who collapses quickly in the face of stress, and then gets self-righteous about the fact that others won't do the same. One learns to enjoy the good in spite of the bad, without hesitating to do what one can to put an end to the bad.
If you can respect that, welcome. If not, you can see the button at the top of this page. Please use it. Do we understand each other?
