I'm Not Dead. Frankly.
By T.H. McWhiskey March 14, 2008
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I've just been really fucking busy.
Aside from trying to salvage a lot of my grades that were (and continue to be) hurt by my quaint little case of alcoholism, I've had a few things that have taken precedent over PICing for the last while or so. Chiefly, last week was NC State's spring break, and even if I had wireless or a laptop at the beach, I wouldn't have been sober enough to see the keys or remember the English language.
I did notice upon my return that since a lot of opinionated peons don't have anything better to do than insult Paul Frank's writings, his blog no longer features comments. I'm not one to preach, and I think I do a pretty good job of not giving a damn about the opinions of others. However, being a fellow PIC writer and having gotten negative feedback on my shit as well, I am going to opine on this a bit.
Just in case you're one of my readers and happen to hate Frank's writing, or not get Frank's writing, or just don't care, then do what you should do with Paul's stuff; skip ahead and find something else to read.
I really don't see what is so damn hard about ignoring something you don't like. Long before Court threw me this blog, I was a PIC reader. I read Gaudio's old stuff and Nate's old stuff and Dan Opp's old stuff and got a kick out of it. I never really liked Roxine Hamm's writing, so guess what? I didn't read her damn blog. It didn't offend me that she was writing, and I didn't take issue with her presence on the site. I just didn't think it was funny. So I read something else.
Frank has got chops. His stuff is a little more "out there" than a lot of other content on PIC, and I can understand if there are some 14-year-olds who would rather read Nate's strip club columns than Frank's Hitler-heavy posts. Great. Nate is funny in his own way, as is Gaudio, and, hell, at least X is trying. Paul's got his own style too, and like Monty Python, not everyone gets it. Nate and I have discussed it before, and we both agree that on humor alone, neither he nor I could beat Frank on our best day when he's on a roll. He's a funny guy when he's in the zone. Lord knows I've posted shit that just plain wasn't funny, but when you're writing with any kind of frequency, there's gonna be some days when you're shit. Like this post, which is more homily than humor.
Like it or not, the young writers like Frank and myself are the future of PIC, and having writers with different styles is one of the great things about this site. Best get used to it.
I've just been really fucking busy.Aside from trying to salvage a lot of my grades that were (and continue to be) hurt by my quaint little case of alcoholism, I've had a few things that have taken precedent over PICing for the last while or so. Chiefly, last week was NC State's spring break, and even if I had wireless or a laptop at the beach, I wouldn't have been sober enough to see the keys or remember the English language.
I did notice upon my return that since a lot of opinionated peons don't have anything better to do than insult Paul Frank's writings, his blog no longer features comments. I'm not one to preach, and I think I do a pretty good job of not giving a damn about the opinions of others. However, being a fellow PIC writer and having gotten negative feedback on my shit as well, I am going to opine on this a bit.
Just in case you're one of my readers and happen to hate Frank's writing, or not get Frank's writing, or just don't care, then do what you should do with Paul's stuff; skip ahead and find something else to read.
I really don't see what is so damn hard about ignoring something you don't like. Long before Court threw me this blog, I was a PIC reader. I read Gaudio's old stuff and Nate's old stuff and Dan Opp's old stuff and got a kick out of it. I never really liked Roxine Hamm's writing, so guess what? I didn't read her damn blog. It didn't offend me that she was writing, and I didn't take issue with her presence on the site. I just didn't think it was funny. So I read something else.
Frank has got chops. His stuff is a little more "out there" than a lot of other content on PIC, and I can understand if there are some 14-year-olds who would rather read Nate's strip club columns than Frank's Hitler-heavy posts. Great. Nate is funny in his own way, as is Gaudio, and, hell, at least X is trying. Paul's got his own style too, and like Monty Python, not everyone gets it. Nate and I have discussed it before, and we both agree that on humor alone, neither he nor I could beat Frank on our best day when he's on a roll. He's a funny guy when he's in the zone. Lord knows I've posted shit that just plain wasn't funny, but when you're writing with any kind of frequency, there's gonna be some days when you're shit. Like this post, which is more homily than humor.
Like it or not, the young writers like Frank and myself are the future of PIC, and having writers with different styles is one of the great things about this site. Best get used to it.








4 Comments
Well put, Tyler. I read PIC long before I ever wrote anything for the site, and whatever I didn't like, I just didn't read.
I get tired of reading people write that Paul Frank isn't funny. If Paul Frank wasn't funny, why would Court let him write for PIC?
People sit at home bitter because they were never good enough at whatever they wanted to do in life, so they try to tell other people they aren't good at what they do, too. This way when their head hits their pillow at night they can fall asleep a little bit faster.
If I read something I don't like, do I post a comment about how much the author sucks? Hell no, it's my own damn fault for taking the time to read it - no one forced me to read it, and certainly no one forced me to keep reading it once I realized I didn't like it. That's what people need to do with Paul - you don't like him or don't get him, don't read his stuff. There's plenty of other crap for you to read on the internet
Still, taking comments off his blog is a sign of weakness. It shows that he cares what the couple of ignorant assholes posting that shit think of him.
Like my mom told me when I used to get beat up by the kids down the street, "Don't let them see you cry Logan ...never let them see you cry."
And also, "Logan those kids only beat you up because they got sexually molested by their uncles and their mothers passively watch while their fathers knock them around the house with a towing chain."
But mostly, "God I wish your father hadn't left us."
But thats neither here nor near. The point is Paul needs to grow a pair and shake off the criticism. Like Nate always says, if you're creating emotion in people, negative or positive, then your writing serves its purpose.
So reinstate comments, hold your head high, and write away. Because when people have a strong enough reaction to your writing to post comments like those, then you know at least they weren't bored.
Hey thanks Tyler. It's always good to get good feedback from a fellow writer; you guys know what you're talking about when it comes to comedy and writing.
Logan - very good point, although there's a lot of factors involved that I took into consideration. Me and Court hypothesized a little bit about it. I'm not going to get into all of it right now, but it got pretty detailed.
Here's what I think:
Almost every post of mine would have a 'not funny' comment of some sort on it within a day, and that got to me a little bit. I would be more critical of my articles before I would post them, ultimately not posting a lot of articles because of what the response would be. Pathetic, but it happens.
I have some ideas on what turns people off about my comedy, and also I think that my comedy doesn't really invokes a lot of positive comments, being that there's not really a moral or discussion to any of my comedy.
What it came down to is that all the negative comments were starting to affect my posting frequency, and ultimately I felt that people would start to get the impression of me that I'm not funny, because all those people or person must be right, right? People would start to think I'm not funny because of the comments, even if they would've thought of me as funny otherwise. A reputation would build that's inaccurate.
Comments just serve no really useful purpose for the type of comedy I write, or not a great enough purpose that it's worth putting up with all the other stuff.
All in all, what it comes down to is this is the right thing for me to do for the time being. My comedy will prosper (hopefully). This way, I can just write pure comedy uninhibited, without having to worry about all the unnecessary drama of comments.
But yeah, I'm a fucking pussy.
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