March 2, 1999.

I have a confession to make: I adore Studio Coquette. The Boy and I make an effort to catch her 45 second intros to the Simpsons every possible weekday. (For those of you not lucky enough to get CBC, Coquette Frechette is a computer-generated, sharp-tempered Quebecois bulldog who introduces the shows in the after-school slot. Most kids hate her, but the Boy and I find her cynicism and irritability endlessly amusing.)

Coquette and a guest are against a garbage dump background to illustrate their conversation on recycling. The show ends, and as usual, Coquette urges us to dance with her.

Coquette: "Is this your 1st time dancing in garbage?"
Guest: "Yup. How about you?"
C: "I wish."

Looks like I'm on Lizzie's shit list, and therefore probably half of the diary community. Oh well. At least there's only 2 journalists who know where I live, so I don't expect the pitch-fork- & torch-wielding mob to show up tonight at least.

From the Mighty Kymm's entry, I've deduced that a mighty debate concerning responsibility of writer to audience went on in diary-l last night. Now, I don't subscribe to diary-l (mostly because I don't have time to read 60 posts a night written on non-diary topics), but I assume that I either sparked it, or became some sort of exhibit for the prosecution. Which is kind of unfair, because I can't respond in kind.

But the upshot is that Lizzie wrote me a very angry letter suggesting that I go away if I don't like her. Fair enough. And I'm not going to dispute her right to close down anything she produces whenever she wants. What I'm frustrated about is what I perceive as a diary clique, composed of journals that "everyone" reads. When was the last time you read an article about the phenom that didn't mention Kymm, Diane and Gus? (no, I'm not providing links. Everyone reads them, remember?) And most of my frustration stems from not having all that publicity, all that adoration, all that attention. I thought I made that clear yesterday.

But in case it needs amplifying, here goes: THE REASON I AM FRUSTRATED WITH LIZZIE'S SUDDEN DEPARTURE IS BECAUSE I ADMIRE HER WORK SO MUCH. THE REASON THAT I AM FRUSTRATED WITH ONLINE DIARY-KEEPING IS BECAUSE I PERCEIVE SOME ASPECTS OF IT AS A POPULATITY CONTEST THAT I HAPPEN TO BE LOSING.

Okay? Can we go back to our daily lives now? And besides, who am I that my criticism matters to any one?? Huh?

I should be writing an essay right now, so I'm going to stop this now and concentrate on my duties. See you tomorrow!

p.s. all images of coquette have been shamelessly ripped off from the cbc website, so try not to piss them off further, okay?