1 That's the second time you've said the c-word in a week! That is the only word in the english language that makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I did something bad just by reading it My one experience with reading gut rumblings was that I happened on his site when he was in rehab thanks to being called out on-line by his friends for being a drunk. While in rehab, he asked people to send letters to an old lady in there with him who was not receiving support from her family. That seemed pretty considerate of him, so I sent her some jokes, and the wife added some girly crap to lend support. We both felt pretty good for doing this tiny thing we did to help someone we didn't know. So I didn't know him, didn't really read him, but I'm glad he lived.

2 I'm rather fond of the word "cunt," but I think some people overuse it. Applied to people, it's essentially a gender-specific form of "asshole," but I'm one of the few for whom it still has a sort of Anglo-Saxon eroticism, not unlike "fuck"--which remains the most versatile word in English. Acidman lost me when he published a huge screed against Venomous Kate, comparing her to his ex-wife, the "bloodless cunt." I could never get over the sense that he was a racist womanhater. But it appears I might be wrong.

3 You were right. And also wrong. An essentially contradictory nature.

4 Well, that would explain the fact that he was attractive to women--we do, after all, love our lost, tortured souls. Bad boys are so Byronesque.

5 Yes. Ladies are painting their toenails red all over the world. Some have vowed to leave 'em red all summer. I was not a fan, myself. I followed along because of the blogwars and drama over Livey - i AM a fan, there. So I've been pondering all this, and the strangely powerful effect his passing away had on me. That resulted in my only two posts all week: http://ksquest.blogspot.com/2006/06/death-in-family.html http://ksquest.blogspot.com/2006/07/some-final-thoughts.html People who aren't raised in the South can develop a sort of stereotype mind-set about Southerners. That's a form of bigotry, of prejudice - which, of course, is part of the stereotype of the southerner. As always, those pre-judgements make them unaware of what great things they really ARE missing. Acidman was an intelligent and complex person; taking him at face value, as so many did, was silly. They lost. Big time.