Well. Trying to make today actually. 

An aside: watched Sherlock Holmes’ “The Blind Banker”, which some consider the low point of the mini-series. I’d have to agree. Half of the episode, contrasting Holmes’ and Watson’s rather different lives, was good. The other half, which was surprisingly racist in an Orientalism way ((Turning Asians into stereotypes of exoticism rather than people; it’s lazy at best and offensive at worst. It’s like saying all Irish are drunken terrorists, or all French are snooty and xenophobic.)), was not so good. And actually rather disgusting. Good gods, Moffat, what the hell. I mean, really. 

(Not that the canon didn’t have its own… special moments, including religious intolerance in “Study in Scarlet”, racism—yes, I know, “The Yellow Face” was not racist, quite the opposite; but consider how Doyle portrayed exotic/sinister Chinese in The Story Involving the Sponge, Middle Easterners in “The Sign of Four”, blacks in “Valley of Fear” or was it “The Three Gables”—cultural stereotypes (fiery Spanish women in “Thor Bridge”, Italians in “Red Circle”), homophobia in the “(Something) Soldier”…. 

That stuff makes me fear going through the canon redux the most, to look back on it and want to go back in time and beat sense into Doyle. I know the excuse of “it was a less tolerant time” but it’s still bothersome and, I feel, not something to be glossed over, because I like to actually think about what I read. Total crime and foolishness to some folks, I know. 

I think, in fact, it was older Doyle who became *ist and *phobic, while younger Doyle had a more open mind. Good gods, what happened to him?

Warning: I am not a kind and loving moderator. Any comments that offend me risk getting malleted out of existence. It’s how I roll.)

And now: how to make tomorrow, even this week, rock. 

I think I’m best off when I write, actually. Blog and whatnot. I know some people are like, “why hang it all in public if we cannot make disparging comments about you doing so, get a room, you fail at blogging for an audience”; and yes, I suppose it’s an exhibitionist tendency, but there you have it. 

And I’m never going to forget the people who are all like, “You exaggerate that you’re going to die if you don’t write.” Well. There have been several times when I would have killed myself this year if not for this blog. They aren’t me; what the hell do they know? (Of course, that admission means I’m sick and thus do not fit into any sane discussion mold. Man, I love being marginalized out of arguments.)

I hate belittling attitudes out there. Sometimes they come from surprising places. There are forums I just can’t comfortably visit, and it makes me sad. People say I should develop a thicker skin; but that doesn’t solve the root cause, now, does it.