My literary genius-brilliance will only be on Twitter for a while.
I finally checked my blog email this morning, after not doing so since before I last posted over a month ago, and holy shit y’all. Easy on the fearmongering. No I’m not dead, no nothing is wrong, yes everything is okay, and no I’m not depressed, sad, or homesick to the point of sad depression.
Two words: grad school.
It started, it’s a full-time program, and it’s very interesting, and I’m sorry but I’ve lost interest in and time for blogging for the moment. Those of you without a blog have no idea how time-consuming it can be. Too much. It’s also very distracting. I can’t concentrate on a text about European economic integration while worrying about how long it’s been since I posted on my stupid blog and what I should post about next, keep up with emails, keep up with clearing moderated comments, no thank you.
Going to concentrate on grad school right now, that’s all, and I may or may not post things on this web site occasionally but I definitely will not feel obligated because this blog is a hobby and we all have the right to ignore our hobbies once in a while and not worry about what anyone thinks about that.
And, umm, hillbillies? A bunch of you managed to find my new blogmail address on my contact page, which you used to send me notes asking if I’m dead (which I appreciate, you are nice people) – but can I ask you how you missed the giant hyperlinked TWITTER address on that same contact page? If you’d clicked on that, you would have seen at any point in the last month or so that I am in fact not dead unless the dead can tweet. Just saying. Twitter: the answer for bloggers who don’t have time to blog. Learn it use it love it.
On Twitter is where I drop such breaking news as Cats Are Assholes, complete with links to proof of that. Also, I announced there that I was asked if I’m ashamed to be an American by a woman who very much wanted my answer to be yes. Or that a professor pointed at me accusingly when saying something about the un-wisdom of Obama’s tire tariff. LOL. Tell me about it sister. I didn’t vote for the tool.
P.S. You don’t have to sign up with Twitter to follow people – you can just bookmark their page. That’s what I do with Twitterers I don’t want to KNOW I am following them. It’s all very stalkerish and creepy, and thus fun!
I don’t tweeeeeter, meester reeekoshay!
but great to hear from you.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:32 amESTHey, after getting a blog hit from a cemetery plot, I can believe anything about Twitterers.
Nice to know that cats are still assholes.
Nice to know you’re working on your future,too.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:59 amESTI’m one of the smirt ones, of course, who’s been following your Tweets, so I knew why you hadn’t blogged. There, I feel smug now.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:16 amESTWe enjoy what you’ve posted so we, of course, get involved but I’m glad you’re taking care of binness for yo OWN self. We’ll read what you post when you have the desire and inclination to post it.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:15 amESTI’m sure the dead can tweet… at least in Chicago.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:54 amESTI’m not on Twitter, so I didn’t even think to check it. I did, however, go so far as to google your name yesterday to make sure some terrible fate hadn’t befallen you. Glad everything is a-ok in the UK. And good luck with school!
October 15th, 2009 at 8:57 amESTI’m too time-challenged to Tweet*, and I would never clog your email with casual inquiries because I already know about grad school (been there, done that, got me a couple of them thar grad-degree thingies). Glad you’ve got your priorities straight, and I wanted to mention that if a guy named “Stompin’ Dave” was ever appearing in a pub or hall in your neck of the woods you should REALLY REALLY REALLY go catch his act. He’ll make you feel all Amurrikan rednecky again in a really GOOD way.
(And if you do see him perform and get the chance, tell him his over-the-puddle Winfield camping buddies all say Hi!)
But I am very happy to see your pixels again, as it saves me the $25 I was going to spend on the Rachel-on-a-milk-carton ad I was going to put on your front page….
[*--Now that I have me one of them smartphone thingies with a keyboard I should mebbe think about it.]
October 15th, 2009 at 8:59 amESTDamn…I thought your were just suffering a bad case of morning sickness.
October 15th, 2009 at 9:37 amEST*sniff*
October 15th, 2009 at 9:39 amEST*sigh*
I had thought about sending you a concerned email as well, but I figured that the server was probably melting down already. I also knew that you were grad schooling it and as a former member of that particular club, I know just how busy you must be.
And I check out Twitter once in a while. Kind of tough because they block it here at work and my three kids clamor for my attention when I get home. Okay, one of them spits up on me, but I know he does it with love. In any event, I already follow you on Twitter, so I know how to find you. You can run, but you can’t hide… oh wait a minute: sure you can. But don’t. Pretty please?
October 15th, 2009 at 11:02 amESTRachel is just waiting to kick your ass over that comment.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:02 amESTI don’t dare twitter my time away. I lose too much tracking a few blogs.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:45 amESTI have missed your comments. Good luck in Grad School–But then hurry back to your adoring readers.
Hi Rachel,
Grad school here too. I feel your pain. With a big fat suckitude that can only come from an upcoming Biochem exam for which I feel woefully underprepared. I have been ducking Twitter with a nauseous super naus, but I may have to get on it now just to keep up with the postings from Across the Pond. Well…. phooey. Good luck though.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:47 amESTI’ll still be loyal and check in from time to time. Like you, other things have taken over, like life itself. Prepping for winter, some travel, etc.
Things going fine here, excellent reports to date. Both Gail and I and both kids have jobs.
Keep up with the grad stuff, and defend the U.S. when necessary.
Don
October 15th, 2009 at 11:51 amESTI share GD’s smug feeling for having already been on Twitter, and having already known all the news. Rachel, I’ll have you know I have restrained myself and the last TWO WHOLE VISITS TO TACO BELL were not documented.
And you know, even though saying things like “I read So-in-so’s Tweet about…” makes me want to kill myself, I do actually like Twitter a whole lot. I think I like it because if you follow the right people (Malkin, AllahP, other newsies) you get actual information instead of “I’m in the bathroom and the lady next to me is singing.” Actually, that one may be OK. But you know what I mean.
/ramble
October 15th, 2009 at 11:53 amESTI don’t do Twitter, but I AM EVER SO GLAD TO HEAR YOU’RE OKAY! We miss you, but best of luck to you on grad school.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:58 amESTOK fine. You win. I will finally break down and find out how to use Twitter. sigh. /
October 15th, 2009 at 12:03 pmESTohmigod twitter goes into your email and finds all your contacts and finds them on twitter! Two of my sisters are on twitter and also a bunch of people I know. How the worm has turned. I used to be the first at everything, but I guess I’m officially old now – I just turned 50.
Glad that Rachel is okay. I was trying not to imagine her lying in a ditch under an overturned mini, but I held myself back from emailing.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pmESTGee whiz, why do bloggers get all defensive about not blogging? The reason people were concerned is that there was a long tradition of fairly regular posts, followed by a month of utter silence.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:17 pmESTA post like this one would have saved you a bunch of email, and evidently, irritation.
It’s your blog, do as you like with it; but don’t be surprised that people expect regular updates because that’s what you have trained them to expect.
I don’t Twitter either, so I didn’t know, but I figured you were just busy — I follow a lot of blogs and it’s not uncommon for people to get burned out on blogging or take a month or 3 off to take care of RL stuff and so forth. I only post on my blog about once or twice a week, and it’s not regular at all. Of course, I don’t know that anyone actually reads my blog, so it’s not like I have a following to worry about either.
Anyway, glad you’re doing well, and if you should ever begin posting here regularly again then I’ll be sure to see it, and if not… have fun twittering, but I won’t see it
October 15th, 2009 at 12:26 pmESTYou go study. You are not only funny, you’re scary-smart. Take your time, we’ll wait. Best of luck.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:27 pmESTA quick suggestion to keep down the inquiries into your health/death/pregnancy status – you could add a twitter widget to this page so that those of us who aren’t able to filter through the clutter on Twitter can see that you are, indeed, still among the living.
http://twitter.com/widgets
If not, then well, that’s fine, too… it’s just a suggestion.
[Hey Wayne, I tried it and it won't work! Gives me the code and everything, and I'm putting it in a widget in my sidebar, replacing something else, but while the thing it's replacing does disappear, the Twitter widget doesn't show up! Grrrrr - will work on it some more. Any ideas? - Rachel]
October 15th, 2009 at 12:30 pmESTWhere you going to school and what are you studying?
-Jeff Smith
October 15th, 2009 at 12:35 pmESTMarietta, GA
(I put in the address so you won’t think I’m stalking you or anything; just curious about these things, as my youngest son is about to get his BA in history and wants to get this PhD as well.)
Hey, Rachel:
How ’bout following me (LangtryChicago) on Twitter? I’ve known about your clandestine mini-blog for some time.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:41 pmESTBeen there done that too! Look out, though, they turn into teenagers…
October 15th, 2009 at 12:55 pmESTI suggest using Tweetdeck. Either that or take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:58 pmESTI, personally was hoping you were having such a frantic good time that there was just no time to blog. I am sure you have been told this already but.. if you are not saving all your musings towards the compilation of a book you are cheating yourself. In my humble opinion you have a talent that grad school is not going to greatly inhance.
October 15th, 2009 at 1:42 pmESTI had decided you were homesick and just didn’t feel like blogging.
I can’t concentrate on a text about European economic integration while worrying about how long it’s been since I posted on my stupid blog and what I should post about next, blah blah, keep up with emails, keep up with clearing moderated comments, no thank you.
So what you’re saying is your education is more important to you than your hillbilly homies. OK, gotcha.
…..sniffle.
October 15th, 2009 at 1:58 pmESTOh and…what’s a twitter?
October 15th, 2009 at 1:59 pmESTRachel must’ve done the right thing, or else it’s just that Chrome is awesome and IE sucks balls, because I see the Twitter feed.
although I no longer see the banner in Chrome, while I used to be able to see it here and not with IE.
October 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pmESTGood God. People don’t tweet? WTF? Hillbillies!
October 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pmESTSo few characters
October 15th, 2009 at 5:24 pmESTnot enough for doggerel
Well perhaps haiku
What’s twitter?
October 15th, 2009 at 6:16 pmESTGlad to see you are, as I was almost very nearly 100% positive, busy and concerned with other things. (I can’t seem to totally eradicate the little WhatIf monster that sits in the back of my head whispering dire possibilities, but age has enhanced my ability to ignore it.)
I’m sure you’re learning all kinds of interesting things. Just thinking about it makes me almost wish I was going back to school. Again.
Almost.
No, never mind. Maybe when I’m older.
Anyway, I say you go ahead and do whatever the hell you want to do with your blog! All of us in your fandom can handle it.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:36 pmESTI have noticed a fair number of folks decided to blog less; various reasons. I hope you can find time to blog once in awhile. 140 characters is nice, but I like a bit more. Don’t we all. Good luck in grad school.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:57 pmESTOcassional commenter, regular reader here. I had read your contact page and knew about your grad school load. Still miss your writing on the “regular” blog, and miss the doggie references the most. “Sunny” especially. I’m even trying to accustom my German Shepherds to the green bean treat…it’s slowly catching on….they seem to prefer canned “Green Giant Brand Blue Lake cut beans.”
Take care and enjoy England and school, in either order. You are one hell of a writer, so never quit that.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:10 pmESTI did go on Twitter once and figured out you were still kicking. I even e-mailed Spoop, after e-mailing you, just to send along my good wishes.
Well, I think I was on Twitter for a little while, but got rid of it when it mined my entire e-mail address book.
I’m on Facebook under my name, Pamela B. Maltzman.
Best wishes to you and best of luck in everything you’re doing… and I hope to see some of your blogging in the future when you have time!
Take care.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:44 amESTTwit feed works in Firefox too. I can see it.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:23 amESTOf course I do. I do it all the time. In fact, I’m doing it right now… oh wait, you said Tweet. I thought you said fart. My bad.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:23 amESTWell, looks like Rachel got the Twitter feed fixed before I saw her update to my suggestion. Although the whole comments page no longer shows up in IE7 for me at all. Just fine in FF, though.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:23 amESTGood luck with Grad School. As you know luck is useless. It takes hard work and plenty of it. I’ll miss your blogging. I hate Twitter. I’ll check in here now and then.
Do what you got to do. I hope Grad School goes well for you.
Joe
October 16th, 2009 at 11:20 amESTI miss you so much! (God this whole comment thread sounds like a bunch of lovesick teenage stalkers).
This is the point where I breakdown and join twitter?
Good luck in grad school!
October 16th, 2009 at 11:32 amESTHallelujah! WACHEL LIVES!!!
October 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pmEST“She’s dead, Jim.”
October 16th, 2009 at 1:39 pmESTWell, glad all is well.
I was afraid you’d been abducted and turned into a European …
Best of luck in school!
October 16th, 2009 at 3:34 pmEST@ Physics Geek, I tweet like a mo-fo. I find that most of my stupidass “thoughts” are already 140 characters or less, so the format suits me really well. I think Twitter was made for people like me, who don’t really have anything deep to say, but just want to throw out the one-liners.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:36 pmESTI understand prioritizing, but still, it sucks that you aren’t keeping up the blog, I really enjoy it. Guess I’ll have to get Twitter.
(hillbilly here)
October 16th, 2009 at 6:01 pmESTIt is already so time consuming for me to keep up with all the blogs I enjoy reading along with all the twitter stuff, that I cannot imagine running a blog. Good luck in school. I will just follow you on the twit!
October 16th, 2009 at 6:13 pmESTYay Rachel for kicking Twitter up a notch! It’s already like a perpetual comment thread — with no Akismet! — why not continue the Rachelucion over there?
Rich Jordan, you can indeed tweet doggerel — serial tweets are perfectly cromulent! (Check out @JTlol — Treacher has pioneered the serial tweet.)
October 17th, 2009 at 12:35 amESTOr that a professor pointed at me accusingly when saying something about the un-wisdom of Obama’s tire tariff. LOL. Tell me about it sister. I didn’t vote for the tool.
But in an American school, the professor would have been gushing about how, regardless of a single error, The One is still the most perfect human being that ever lived. Yes, including Him…
P.S. Glad to hear you are doing ok. Was beginning to be concerned. I mostly refuse to be a twit, but you tempt me.
October 17th, 2009 at 2:52 pmESTGood to hear from you, Rachel. I’m another one who was starting to get concerned.
Somehow I missed the Twitter link, but since I’ve never, uh, twat, I guess I ignored it.
October 18th, 2009 at 11:13 amESTGeez. Wish you had been more forthcoming and timely about your time constraints.
Please don’t piss and moan about morons that don’t notice the weirdo “Twitter” link.
Just kill your blog ’till you feel it’s time.
rachellucus.com has officially, for me, ended.
I will google rachel lucas in the future but will delete my current “favorite”.
I will miss your posts. Bless the animals.———–Peggy
October 18th, 2009 at 9:06 pmESTFigured you were running amuck in Europe without time to sit at the laptop. Pleased to hear you’re at grad school. It is hard work but ultimately, you will be employable and/or have a stronger sense of self for the accomplishment.
I believe I adopted Mixer the Wonder Dog because of this blog. Thanks for that. As a two-year old farm dog, he’s a handful but after four months is starting to realize that we have him for the long term.
Anyway, great hearing from you. I might look at twitter to see if it’s worth the effort or will just check in from time to time.
October 19th, 2009 at 12:27 pmESTHi Rachel, good to hear that you’re ok and enjoying grad school (though perhaps “enjoying” isn’t the right word), we miss you and we miss your talented wit!
Good luck in school, and thanks for having given us such laughs and such ingenious insights when you had the time to blog. (Yes, this is gratuitous butt-kissage, I don’t deny it.)
Take care and good luck! I followed you for a bit on Twitter (I just read, I don’t post anything there) and saw that you’d finally seen “Serenity” the Firefly movie. Good times!
John in Arkansas
October 19th, 2009 at 6:05 pmESTShame about the twitter thing. Glad to hear you didn’t get by a truck though…
I was firmly in the selfishly wanting more posts category!
October 20th, 2009 at 3:49 pmESTThank God – I was beginning to hate the sight of mushrooms.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:45 pmESTOK I figure since this post has been up a few days I can threadjack.
Here I introduced you guys to a stray dog my daughter found and brought home and which, due to his being tattooed on his chest with gang tatts, I had named Pimp-C.
Since then I’ve had him vetted (wormed and shots) and we decided to keep him. He’s a pretty good dog though he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer if you know what I mean and I think you do.
I found out that the tattoo is for the Houston Crips gang. I’ve actually seen it on the left hand of a…gentleman…at the grocery store.
Anyway, since then he’s developed a few aliases, C-Dawg, Playa, and my personal favorite; Pimple. My wife informs me he doesn’t have a collar, he wears bling.
Here’s C-Dawg trying to get some rest under the desk.
Here he is chillaxin’ with his home dawgs.
Here’s a picture of the whole pack.
And yes, I am aware this is all terribly raaaaacist.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:41 pmESTI got a virus visiting your site when I click onto your blogroll the last time. Is there some problem?
[Yes I would say there is a problem, but not with my site. To quote my good friend Dogette about this very comment, are you saying you:
Seriously, I have absolutely no idea what you mean that you got virus visiting my site when you clicked on my blogroll. It just doesn't make any sense in the English language. - Rachel]
October 21st, 2009 at 6:06 pmESTGlad to hear all is well! Good luck with the grad school thing, really.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:53 pmESTDrop a post in here now and then for us non-twittery types, ok?
Be well.
Gregor
Susan coulda been nailed by one of your utlinks, I suppose, but not by your direct link to the blogroll, unless you’ve been hacked.
More likely is that a recent infestation chose that moment to manifest, after having actually been in her computer for a bit. Many of the viruses running loose nowadays are a bit time-delayed in showing symptoms. They lurk a bit first.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:59 pmESTShe’s just yawning.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 pmESTGood to hear from you Rachel! I used to blog so I know EXACTLY how time consuming it is to post every day and keep things going. I decided to spend my writing energies on non-blog manuscripts. But I LOVE Twitter. I am connected to you now by way of @carnelianrings.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:46 pmESTSorry for the lack of information. All I know is that when I clicked on the link to your blogroll, my computer went ape shit. I was worried that your site was hacked.
“Legitimize yourself”. What does that mean?
I apologize if my comment was taken in a way that way unintended on my part. I very much enjoy your blog and I hate that you think that I was posting a negative comment. All I can say is that I am still basically computer illiterate. Pretty sad when I have been using them for 25 years at work and can 3D model any structure!
Again, sorry for the misconception.
[Sorry Susan, I was in a mood that day, because of a couple of other comments. Such as the one from Peggy, and a couple I had to delete because they were along the lines of "Good riddance to a stupid blog." Sigh. Sometimes it makes one punchy. - Rachel]
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pmESTI just saw the wacked-out hybrid email I used for my earlier comment — the hazards of trying to comment after midnight, d’oh — but you rescued it from Akismet! Thank you!
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:11 pmESTYou always were a giver. Anyone who says otherwise needs his grace meter calibrated! (among other things)
Just discovered you…grad school, you go girl! My daughter is finishing up grad school this year in math…the light at the end of the tunnel, she can’t WAIT. I don’t get to see her much for the same reason as you…too busy!
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:31 pmESTGuess I’ll have to stalk you on Twitter…
I’m sorry too Susan. Seriously. Your comment had a “can’t tell in text on a screen” thing going, that is, to me anyway, it sounded a little, uh, “accusatory.” That kind of accusatory where there are no facts or details. Regardless, I probably shouldn’t rag on Rachel’s commenters when, golly, I’m ONE OF THEM.
And in conclusion, as we are forever saying to one another in the blogging world, “Oh. Nevermind.”
Carry on men!
PS: I am moving my misplaced snark for you (n00b!) over to the Peggy Column, where it should have gone in the first place. Sheesh, Peg. You DE-BOOKMARKED Rachel? Whoa, that’s intense.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:07 amESTGlad to hear everything is ok.
On a completely unrelated note, do florists grant refunds on funeral arrangements? :p
October 24th, 2009 at 12:09 pmESTThank you for forgiving me! I felt like the “ugly American” for awhile. Nothing like the feeling that you just showed your ass and not having a clue!
October 25th, 2009 at 4:38 pmESTPhuq, Phuq, grad school SUXXS!!!!!!
You have my deepest empathy, Rachel. I hope it doesn’t get as political as I found it to be in the 70’s and the 90’s. I got to the point, by the mid-90’s, that I no longer called them the Social Sciences. They had become so taken over by Marxists and Feminists and PostModernists that I called them:
The Political Dark Arts.
There are no Social Sciences, anymore. And, the three schools of “thought” or theory, Marxism, Feminism and Postmodernism can only handle one variable apiece. so, Marxism does class, Feminism does gender and Postmodernism does race.
Hence, the 3 “great”variables of race/class/gender, race/class/gender, race/class/gender. Keep saying that over and over, again. Soon, you will believe there are no other variables in the Political Dark Arts.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:49 pmESTGlad to see that you’re still alive. In answer to the woman who asked if you are ashamed to be an American, I think a good comeback would have been, “Shit yeah, ever since we elected that ass-hat Obama.”
October 26th, 2009 at 11:15 pmESTemail: “Um, are you dead?”
reply: “Yes.”
[snerk!]
Good
October 27th, 2009 at 9:24 amESTluckskill in grad school!http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/clothes-workwear/mens/mens-pants/mens-denim-ballroom-jeans/mens-denim-ballroom-jeans.aspx?src=PRWVC
Recalling how you got a kick out of Chuck Norris and his gusseted trousers, I had to send a ad link found at hotair.com
October 27th, 2009 at 4:10 pmESTYours,
Craig Johnson
Hope grad school works out for you. Many of my friends who have their masters and higher are out of work because their education is too specialized. Employers are not looking for smart people, but those who can do a variety of jobs decently.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:21 pmESTAre you dead?
October 30th, 2009 at 10:36 amEST“Hope grad school works out for you. Many of my friends who have their masters and higher are out of work because their education is too specialized. Employers are not looking for smart people, but those who can do a variety of jobs decently.
“
Actually most employers are looking for people with less intelligence and education than they have so they can work the dogshit out of you and pay you peanuts.
A graduate degree is worth its weight in gold if you know how to use it. If you’re looking for a low level job just to get by until something better comes along, leave the graduate degree off of your resume’, turn your hat backwards during the interview and say duh a lot.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:53 pmESTThat reminds me of a saying I once heard:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:04 pmEST“First-rate people hire first-rate people. Second-rate people hire third-rate people.”
Who is the best dog in the world? Glad you asked.
His name is Herbie. He is without doubt the kindest, sweetest, most obedient, loving dog on the face of this planet. Herbie doesn’t have a single mean bone in his body, he loves everyone he sees. Hell he even likes cats. No kidding.
I do not know why God blessed me with the Herbinator, but for whatever reason He did. He is the best dog I ever had the privilege to “own”.
Of course, that means he wouldn’t be the fierce defender Sunny was under attack from a pit-bull. Still, the way I look at it, I am here to take care of him, not the other way around. Frankly, as a former Marine, I bet I could kill a pit-bull bare handed in about 1 minute.
Probably get my ass kicked though.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pmEST