a troll posted some anti-gay scurrility on the Poetics list. this brought forth an outraged response. rule one for the internet, let trolls bounce their effects off rock walls. okay, rule one ignored. so the discussion--I'll be whimsical and call it a discussion--became Comparative Suffering 101. it all sounds like what should be told to your therapist: I've had it hard being a member of group X. it all finally boils down to the singular. I was reading Ric Carfagna's interview with Vernon Frazer at Big Bridge (here). Vernon talks of having Tourette's syndrome. there's something that sets you apart. but then, we're all set apart. Vernon sounded like he was thru the wounding, you know, in and thru. those contentions and conflicts throw a light, if you're willing to see. what strikes me about the Poetics list is the seeming lack of self-observation. it's a performance area yet people don't regard how they might be performing. the icky academic closeness doesn't help, and thesis paper brand of assertion, with a dependence on crucial texts for back up. a largely dull waste of potential.