The Final Hiatus

I really enjoy writing.

For most of my life I didn't. But in the past few years I have come around.

So, three or four months ago, I decided to give it a shot. I would start writing regularly.

And I did, sometimes more regularly than others. I am not a great writer, but with some work, I thought, I could become better.

Four months later, I don't know that I am better. I don't know that I ever wrote anything memorable, even to me.

But it's kind of irrelevant. My day job is coding. If I want to do something fun and productive in my free time that I could eventually turn into some spare cash, I can either write prose (with lackluster proficiency) or I can write code (with moderate proficiency).

Here's the thing : good coders are way more valuable than good writers. And in the time it would take my writing to go from bad to good, my coding could go from good to ... well, the amount of effort it would take to make me a good writer would, applied to coding, make me the best programmer in the world.

And being a good coder makes me better at my day job.

So, my serious attempts at writing are over. I think I'll still try to post at least one entry a week. Toodles.

Turmoil in the Middle East

The word "interesting" was first invented at a dinner party, as a polite way of describing the political state of the Middle East.

The latest barrel of laughs came courtesy of a series of cartoons published in a Danish newspaper which were, evidently, wildly heretical.

Embassies have been attacked. Buildings have been burned down. Businesses have been closed. People have been killed.

I think I'm on the same wavelength as many other bloggers when I say : why couldn't my blog have touched off all this violence?

Here's how it would work. I say something dangerously blasphemous, like "I bet Mohammed would really enjoy playing video games." Then there are riots and I go into hiding. And then I get a ten million dollar book deal and I blame all my problems on the US government. Everybody Wins.