Joe Tobacco has offered up some exceptionally kind words:
It’s all in the technique.
As I have explained in these Electronic Pages, I come by my profane vocabulary honestly, having learned my earliest vulgar expressions at my grandmother’s knee. But any brainless fool can curse like a sailor after a bad night on shore. You have to wield the occasional fuckbomb like any other Writerly Tool: with finesse.
As with all things in life, excess in the Swearing of Vile Oaths is a thing best avoided. But neither is it to be feared to the point of complete disuse. “Oh, fudge!” just doesn’t convey the same gravitas as “Fuuuuuck!”
I don’t have an issue with my kids reading my blog: They are adults, living on their own. For that matter, I don’t have a problem with my Rabbi reading my blog.
But to go back to Mr. Joe Tobacco, his is a high compliment indeed. Being ranked with the folks on his little list is a High Honor, and for that I thank him. And though there’s a little voice in my head saying one of Harvey Keitel’s memorable lines from Pulp Fiction [“Well, let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks quite yet.”], I feel that a little reciprocity is in order.
Joe is that rarest of rara avises, an Intelligent, Well-Spoken Centrist. This post gives a bit of insight into his political philosophy. What differentiates Joe from almost every other political blogger I’ve ever read is that he is at once articulate and almost completely nondogmatic. None of this “My mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with the facts” ’tude. His site, Cadillac Tight, is well worth a visit.
Anyway, that’s my opinion. I could be wrong.
There’s simply no argument to be made that blogs using profanity or obscenity aren’t good blogs; I defy anyone to read Velociman, Elisson, Eric, Steve H., Erica, Stevie, and Richard, or peruse the archives at Gut Rumbles, and tell me that isn’t some of the best writing, on-line or off-line, you’ve ever seen.A little context is appropriate here. Joe’s post was about the use of profanity in blogs, and while one might take one’s inclusion in a list of Blogs That Use Profanity a left-handed compliment, that wasn’t the point. The point was that good writing does not preclude the use of profanity, nor does it require same.
It’s all in the technique.
As I have explained in these Electronic Pages, I come by my profane vocabulary honestly, having learned my earliest vulgar expressions at my grandmother’s knee. But any brainless fool can curse like a sailor after a bad night on shore. You have to wield the occasional fuckbomb like any other Writerly Tool: with finesse.
As with all things in life, excess in the Swearing of Vile Oaths is a thing best avoided. But neither is it to be feared to the point of complete disuse. “Oh, fudge!” just doesn’t convey the same gravitas as “Fuuuuuck!”
I don’t have an issue with my kids reading my blog: They are adults, living on their own. For that matter, I don’t have a problem with my Rabbi reading my blog.
But to go back to Mr. Joe Tobacco, his is a high compliment indeed. Being ranked with the folks on his little list is a High Honor, and for that I thank him. And though there’s a little voice in my head saying one of Harvey Keitel’s memorable lines from Pulp Fiction [“Well, let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks quite yet.”], I feel that a little reciprocity is in order.
Joe is that rarest of rara avises, an Intelligent, Well-Spoken Centrist. This post gives a bit of insight into his political philosophy. What differentiates Joe from almost every other political blogger I’ve ever read is that he is at once articulate and almost completely nondogmatic. None of this “My mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with the facts” ’tude. His site, Cadillac Tight, is well worth a visit.
Anyway, that’s my opinion. I could be wrong.
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