prrr, halls of mirrors, and why it’s good to just stay home
of course, the kind of status we’re talking about here is super-meaningless, and basically just equates to having a low- or medium-paying job where people might know or like your work by name. so i worry sometimes that the internet has totally exploded this old situation where if you knew someone’s name or followed their work, it meant slightly more about their level of achievement, because now people are fascinated by the “insider” quality of others who are fairly ordinary and do not possess nearly the importance some might think they do. you probably know what i mean with that. there is a weirdness to it that can make a body start getting awfully mentally midwestern and weirded out.
First of all, obviously this is a great read because it is one of my favorite writers on the internet writing about one of my other favorite writers on the internet. Second, even though I’m beginning to understand how much of “being a writer” involves things like not changing your clothes for 30 hours, I still think the writers (on the internet and otherwise) who I like are super cool and famous because they are good writers and I just want to be, if not their respected peer, then at least someone who got to talk to them at a party once because that would be cool. So, fear not, Mr. Abebe.
