Saddened, not surprised...

Ah, haven't had a chance to post for almost a week, though I've read the threads when I could. The acrimony that is happening always seems to be the same people, some of whom I've tangled with in the past, some of whom I learned to love even through the cloud of controversy that seems to follow them around.

Sorry, made myself chuckle with that one. Anyone remember Pigpen from Charlie Brown? He always brought his own dust cloud with him.

The bad part about all this is that it colors the forum in shades of gray for me, and I know it does for others as well. I love this place because of the people, and have received so much incredible support here. At the same time, I've been hurt on this forum and through it, as have others, and had to learn to let it go--and others don't seem to be able to do that.

I hate the sniping, despise the namecalling, abhor the overreactions, and at the same time miss the interactions with the people I care about so much. When I want to jump in and tell people to cool it, though, I remember what Harvey Fierstein said: "Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." That's what I'm doing--I am neither allowing myself to be bullied nor, even more important, am I trying to bully others into silence. This latest firestorm will burn itself out, as they all do.

But for now, I'll stay out of the threads, stay over here on the blogs, give myself a break from the emotionality of it all, and continue on my way.

I still love my job... Started my year off eating clam chowder in Rhode Island, and listened to some seriously awesome live country music in Nashville. Ten days from now I'll be in New Orleans, then in Tulsa. In the meantime, they could send me anywhere...loving this so much that it almost scares me.