20110204.1401

I am not dead. In any event, February is not the month that eats my people; October is the month that hates us.

It may have been noticed that I have not commented on a number of issues currently in the public consciousness, such as the winter weather and the shooting of Rep. Giffords. That I have done so is not because I have not been aware of what is happening--I have been dealing with the weather in person, and I try to keep abreast of the news even though I have no television service.

I have held my tongue largely because of a feeling that I have little to contribute. The weather is the weather, and has always been a topic of conversation. Even now, with people looking for Al Gore so that they may mock him to his face ("Awful cold for global warming, ain't it?"), what can be said? Those who will be convinced have been. The rest will continue to bray like the jackasses they so often resemble.

You know who you are.

With Rep. Giffords, while I wish her a speedy recovery and am aghast at what happened to her (and to the others, who were not so fortunate as Rep. Giffords, remember), I have little investment. I am not and have never been a resident of Arizona, after all, and while I have commented on issues regarding that state, my comments have been about things which reasonably affect me or those close to me--and SB 1070 would potentially cause problems for some of my people, October or no.

I am aware of the world outside the windows of my small room in the ivory tower. That does not mean that I feel obliged to always rattle on about it.

I feel obliged to rattle on about it only sometimes.