In which questions are asked and remain unanswered

Wuz happ’nin’, sez you. Nuttin’, sez me.

I’m going to take a couple of days off from writing and blogging and whatnot, which is a literal translation of nothing happening, I guess. I don’t see much news on the debate front, needless to say. Some people will go to the various Nats in the next few weeks, but if you’re not among them, well, there you are. Sailorville officially asked me if I was returning next year, and once again I was forced to disappoint the debate community at large by answering yes. I will go away some day. I promise. But not just yet.

If you’re wondering, the DJ is getting downright weird, in ways I can’t pinpoint. I’d explain if I could, but, well, I can’t.

Those folks who have claimed to be my friends and therefore connected with me on Facebook (many of whom I sort of recognize) know that I’ve started hawking Grinwout’s on my fb page. Anyone who followed the Grinwout’s page knows that I’ve stopped hawking it there. The thing is, I’ve gotten a lot more views, and since I’m not doing it for my health (sort of ), it makes sense to go where the action is. Of course, this means that I won’t be posting much else on fb, but I never really have anyhow, so it won’t matter much. I’ve considered emulating O’C and hooking up to Foursquare and posting every time I pass gas, but decided against it. I don’t do anything all that interesting, and when I do, I’ll pass it along in detail here. Excruciatingly painful detail, as the VCA well knows.

Speaking of which, I was talking with someone yesterday about young and old editors (again a propos of the DJ), and one of the things I realized was that the one big difference is not that the younger ones can articulate an explanation of their connection to social media, but simply that it is in their personal universes in a way not true of old farts. I mean, it’s not as if I don’t have accounts everywhere for everything, but I seldom bother. With Twitter, for instance, every time I look at it it’s as if I’m starting from scratch: you’re either in it, or you’re not. It’s easier to be a casual Facebook user, but that makes you mostly a lurker, reading what other people are up to which, if you have enough friends, can pass a bunch of time interestingly enough. But some people, mostly younger, use Facebook as the air they breathe, or at least the interwebs air they breathe (and the mobile air, as well). I’ve seen no explanation of why this is so, or at least no convincing explanation other than it is what it is. Watching corporations try to find their place in this is interesting. For instance, last night someone (Warner Bros?) streamed the movie Casablanca on Facebook. In the universe of Why Bother, this has to rank pretty high, although presumably somehow or other it probably means the fb is looking toward going into the streaming business along with every other business they’ve invaded. Did anyone watch this? Was it really a movie-watching experience? Is the world now divided into people who watch movies and people who live-blog movies?

As I say, I’m not in the game here. I’d like to understand it more, though.