Raising my voice . . .

I consider myself something of a dilletante in my approach to this blog in that I use the medium mainly for my own amusement. I welcome readers who find their way to it and enjoy the conversations I have with them but I also enjoy the limited nature of those conversations. I'm aware there are many ways of maximizing my audience but, for now, this is my play-space and not my profession.

I make my money elsewhere, primarily through editing and writing, and being paid to produce changes the nature of what I write. Here, I have more freedom to play with ideas, style and words.

One problem with that is when I feel there is something I really want to make a stink about, it's the writerly equivalent of one hand clapping. (Perhaps a little more - some of the people who do follow me are important in many different ways.) The ears I want to yell into are unlikely to be turned my way.

The solution - write a guest blog for someone who DOES have a wide audience, of which most are the people I want to let know how I feel.

I thank the erudite and stylish Carl Prine, author of such esteemed tracts as "The Porta-Potty Rock" and the wearer of a padded velvet codpiece in Doctrine Man cartoons, for loaning me the eyes of his readers to express my disgust at the birthday favor the U.S. Army gave an officer for conduct unbecoming anyone.

Be sure to read Carl's better-worded and more knowledgeable piece also.