Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Feelin' like I lost a friend

So I came home from work yesterday to read on Facebook Tamara of View From The Porch fame announcing that she was fed up and quitting.

???

VFTP is now shut down. Accessible "By invitation only". No archives, nothing.

I feel like a kid whose best friend at school is moving with his family to some country he never heard of, where they don't have roads or mail.

All because some creeper stalker Would. Not. Let. Her. Alone.

This is why she went from "Prove you're a human" word verification to "Owner Approval" on comments, by the way. A lot of us knew of the shitstain's existence, but we'd just chuckle to ourselves and ask "What kind of an idiot would stalk Tamara, for Christ's sake?" Because, not only does she have guns and know how to use them, but she is the reigning Queen of Snark, with an encyclopedic knowledge of history and technology, and her blog is read by everybody.

I can't even begin to explain how much I have learned from Tam about firearms and history and technology, nor can I describe the way she routinely humbles me with the breadth and depth of her knowledge. In all modesty, people come to me with questions about guns and history and technology -- when Drang speaks (about some things) people listen --  but I feel like the merest, newest Padawan next to her...

Some bloggers speak of the "Blogfather".  I won't say that Tamara is my "Blogmother", but if there was one blogger whose example I tried to follow, it was her. And, in the 6 years or so I've been blogging, I've managed a couple of Instalanches, a Dailylanche, and a couple of Tamalanches.  I got more hits off a single Tamalanche than the other 'lanches combined. This is not to brag, exactly -- my usual post has fewer hits than her occasional "Not up to it, come back later." Rather, it's a comment on her influence.

The US Concealed Carry Association?  I kept getting their emails, and ignored them, until I learned that she has a monthly column. (Light on the snark, though.)

I have to wonder if JTC of Sebring, FL, knows just how many people he has pissed off. Many if not most if not all gun bloggers.  Many if not most if not all gun blog readers. Larry Correia, which means all of the Monster Hunter Nation.  Chris Muir of the Day by Day web comic.

So then, today (yesterday when you see this, almost certainly) I get home and see a Facebook post by her that says more-or-less "REDACTED, it's been fixed", but the comments make it sound like she's going to unfriend anyone she has not met IRL. And I can't help remember how it made me feel when she accepted my friend request, because maybe now I could be one of the Cool Kids, except that now I might be permanently black listed, and it almost makes me want to cry.

Which is pathetic at my age.

(At this point, I want to explain that all this is in a distinctly non-creepy, nothing-to-get-jealous-about, honey, type of admiration...)

(And as for Facebook friendage, I wonder if "One degree of separation" will do?  'Cuz I know True Blue Sam, and Engineering Johnson, and Ray Carter, and Chance, and...)

Sigh.

Look, hobby bloggers have been saying all along "I do this for my entertainment, not yours, so if you don't like what I write, sorryaboutthat."

And "If it stops being fun, stop doing it."

So, if it has become more of a chore than Tamara wants to put up with, she should, indeed, pull the plug.

Many of us mourn.

7 comments:

SPEMack said...

I admit my first thought upon seeing her "by invitation only" message was "oh dear, what did I say?"

The only slightly good thing to come from this was I had a very humorous mental image of gun bloggers, readers, and commentators across the country having a montage of gearing up, bolts clacking, mags clicking, sucking it to get on that old pair of bdu pants from the back of the closet, you get the drift.

Sad day.

NotClauswitz said...

I would like to punch that creep in the throat and smash his fingers with a sledge hammer.

MrGarabaldi said...

Hey Mr. Drang

I didn't realize that there was a problem until I tried to post a comment on her blog. I don't check it all the time. I go there once a week. Dang..this bites. She had helped me one time ID a pistol my Dad had picked up for a song at some auction and I am pretty "gun savvy" and I couldn't ID it from the photograph he sent me. Well Tam ID it from the bad photo, told me the caliber and who makes it and when. That was impressive.
I hope she handles this key board commando and comes back to blogging. She has done more to destroy or discredit the antigun movement than most of the people on the internet.

Unknown said...

It's a sad development. So much knowledge and insight.

I don't have any knowledge of the "problem" but I don't doubt digital harassment can be more work than it's worth for an individual.

I'll support any choice she makes in anyway I can. For now I guess that means being sad at our loss and encouraging others to share the knowledge they have.

Drang said...

Tamara has been persuaded to turn the blog back on, no comments, and no new content (for now, one may be permitted to hope), but the archives are now accessible.

Drang said...

Oh, and the creep is now creeping in Bobbi's comments, despite being told to go away.

NotClauswitz said...

He should never pick on Bobbi, that's an indicator of how sick and rancid his minds has become.