Monthly Archive: July 2006

Some people say you should be assertive. Don’t be wishy-washy. Don’t use watered-down language (“it kind of seems like…”). Don’t be afraid to own your opinion. Blah blah blah. I think this is good advice. (Although I don’t think Brenda Ueland would approve of the negative tone.) I like reading people who sound like they know what they’re talking about and aren’t afraid to stake out a position, even if unpopular.

But what if you don’t know what you’re talking about? What if you’re afraid of looking back on your published opinions with regret? What if even though you’re in your mid-thirties, your beliefs and opinions are still somewhat amorphous and subject to change based on the latest screed you read at www.pusillanimouspundits.com?

And what if you’re an admirer of …

First post!

I was tempted to include with this post one of those lame “under construction” graphics from the early web days — animated, of course — in an equally lame attempt to be ironically funny. Of course any hint of humor would soon fade in to oblivion as the site proceeded to languish forever “under construction,” with just this one entry.

(I just checked and saw that I have an archived version of my first web site from late 1996. No yellow construction graphics but painfully bad all the same. Maybe I’ll host it here someday or throw up a screenshot if I’m in the mood for public shame and humiliation. I had advanced to new heights of sophistication with my second web site in early 1998: it had frames. I think this thing you’re reading now qualifies as my third web site.)

…