In Which I'm Catty and Pay for It

Okay, so I did the dumbest thing ever today.  I was in the gay.com chat room carrying on a conversation with my friend Mo, and we were having this sorta who-can-be-bitchier conversation about other chatters.  So I clicked on this guy to get the spelling of his name, and copied & pasted it into the resultant "instant message" window along with my snarky comment, then hit "send."  What I didn't realize is that I had double-clicked on his name, and opened a window to him.   He responded in kind and then some, and of course I deserved it, 'cuz I hate when someone's unkind to me, so you'd think I could be my karmic act together and do the whole "do unto others..." thing, right?  Oh boy, but in this instance, my karma was surely a boomerang.

Anyway, the guy messaged me back and told me exactly worthless and pathetic and short and fat and sad I was, and I couldn't help but (a) nervously laugh - the natural reaction of someone suddenly confronted by his own massive stupidity, and (b) realize that, despite the fact that he had every right to be angry, the insults he hurled couldn't really touch me.  For the very first time in a long while I actually thought, "no, actually, I'm not fat, and not sad, and not pathetic.  But I am short and maybe a little foolish right now."

I do regret having caused him that pain, though.  Understandable that he would lash out, having been stung.  I've done it myself in the past.

So, as you know, I've been re-reading my way through the James Clavell "Asian Saga."  I've already read Shogun, Tai Pan, and Gaijin.  On my trainride out to Ken Bolden's for dinner this past Sunday, I came within two pages of finishing King Rat, the fourth book.

This left me with a bit of a dilemma... nothing to read on the return trip home.

So Kenny graciously loaned me a book called The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox.  I read half of it that night before falling asleep -- I couldn't put it down!  I think I'm gonna buy it for everyone I know.

It's about a young man's encounter with an ange, and the way it affects the rest of his life.

So far, my favorite quote:  "Despair is gravity.  What an appetite it has, hotter than hellfire."