Getting older

Okay, I know I’m not really that old; I’m only 29.  But lately I’ve noticed I can’t do caffeine and sugar like I used to without getting jittery, moody, or otherwise fucking with my sleep schedule.  I’ve also noticed that I need less sleep now.  My body is ready to wake up after like 6 or 7 hours, but my mind rebels and tries to go back to sleep.

I injured my foot a month or so ago, and now it acts like a barometer.  I’ve started noticing more grey hairs.  I get home from work, and I’m tired.

I need to get into the habit of working out regularly, and taking better care of myself.

The Utopian Myth

At that party the other night, where someone was complaining about the Vegan Freak Forums, I suggested that person join the Vegan Represent Forums instead.  Someone else pointed out the various faults with those forums and some people on there.  I won’t go into those alleged faults here, because I don’t do that sort of thing.  (Notice a pattern here?)

Here’s the thing with the Internets and with all the other ways humans organize themselves: we’re human!  We’re going to fuck up, make mistakes, disagree, upset each other, get pissed off, have misunderstandings, and not always like each other.  It’s a part of being alive.  We shouldn’t expect to find a utopia, on the Internet or IRL.  They don’t exist.

Like I said before, if you really think you can do better, start your own online community.  Eventually, if you’re successful, you’ll have to make hard decisions, and some people won’t like them, or you.  You will be called a nazi, fascist, authoritarian, or just plain mean.  You cannot make everyone happy, all you can do is try to keep some order.  The Internet is full of trolls, attention whores, and idiots.  Their behavior should not be tolerated.  Not everyone agrees on what behavior qualifies as trollish, and sometimes people make mistakes.  Sometimes trolls have the best intentions.  Sometimes things that are seemingly unoffensive to the poster reflect that persons insensitivity or ignorance to the plight of others.  Whether or not the cause is ignorance or malice, it shouldn’t be tolerated.

There are no utopias.  We can only do our best in the communities we have, for now.

Internet communities revisited

I know I’ve ranted about this before, but after the potluck I was at Saturday night, it’s worth repeating.

I would have had a lovely time at the potluck, were it not for the fact that there were some disgruntled members of the Vegan Freak Forums there, who felt it appropriate to spend the entire night complaining about how the forums are run, how the mods are Nazis (Godwin’s Law), etc. etc.

The people who run the forums are providing a service, of their own good free will, and they have no obligations or duty to do so.  It is up to those people to run it as they see fit.  If you don’t like it, you have no obligation to stay there.  Start your own forums, or find a community that better suits you.  If we ban someone, that’s our discretion.  If you don’t like our decisions, go away.  Honestly, why is that so difficult to understand for some people?  Why do all these people feel entitled, like we owe them an explanation as to how we run things?

People need to grow up.

On the other hand, why should I give a flying fuck what these people think?  I really don’t.  They just wanted to vent about decisions we’ve made; so be it.  I’m not going to read too much into what people say at a party after having a few drinks.  I don’t think, in the case of some people, it was necessarily a personal attack.  (Okay, the Nazi remark is, but so the fuck what?)  I’m not going to read too much into this, as the complaints say more about the complianer’s sense of entitlement than about anything we’re doing.  And the fact of the matter is, we’re still a vibrant and active community.  So we must be doing something right.

With all due Christian love and respect, all I can say is fuck the haters.  They can go play elsewhere.