I think rhhardin put his finger on something real yesterday, in that "
proper focus is the truth" post, where the discussion turned to whether the Daily Caller writer Jim Treacher is "thin-skinned." A commenter named mr said:
Treacher can be witheringly funny, but he is also famously thin-skinned. He simply cannot allow anyone to say anything critical about him in a comment section without jumping in to insult the commenter.
And pm317 immediately added: "Althouse is famously thin-skinned." Then rhhardin — who's been commenting (enigmatically, interestingly, wisely, and weirdly) for at least 10 years — said:
There's also "sudden Althouse."
It's not thin-skinned exactly.
It appears as an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
My
sudden response to that was "You must enjoy being a spectator at this hard-to-see game, you weirdo." But the truth — to properly focus on the truth — is that he figured something out. I have an instinct — somewhat like the more conventional urge to defend the underdog — to make
an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
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29 comments:
I like rhhardin's new "Sudden Althouse" category, but I can't place exactly where I have I felt your display of this reaction.
Maybe its your comments on "men in shorts".
Out-of-the-blue would be from out of the sky.
Out-of-some-thicket would be from out of a grouping of dense shrubbery.
The game would be something like quail or deer so I'm going to guess that some comments are weirder than others.
There is the response, pointing to the thicket where the game is not apparent.
That response appears, therefore, to be out of the blue.
Whether that's good or bad, if you're a reader and not also a spouse, depends on whether there's something in the thicket or it's imagined, or say a danger from personal history.
If you're a spouse, the thicket is interesting regardless.
But if you're not, you may be baffled.
The latter would deserve a sudden Althouse tag.
There's also pique Althouse.
In the sense of being stimulated or aroused, as in, 'you have piqued my curiosity.'
Not to be confused with peak Althouse.
Bill Belichick is a master of the out of the blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
"Specialty place" OR "specialty plates"?
I don't think about it much
(Maybe that means I AM a robot)
We all have an Althouse that feeds our head, slaps our hand, intrigues, inflames, prickles, nuances, nudges, jobs, fuels our fire, extinguishes our fever, tickles, trickles and ties us in a knot to be untied by thought.
It is the 'So Althouse' Althouse.
I am Laslo.
to make an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
It is not a compliment. It is euphemism for always wanting to have the last word like many social network nutcases. But it is your blog and I will gracefully give you the last word without you fighting for it.
"(Maybe that means I AM a robot)"
A thin-skinned robot would be weird.
I was a thin-skinned robot.
"A thin-skinned robot would be weird."
It would get dented.
Brings to mind the song "Suddenly Seymour" from Little House of Horrors
"We all have an Althouse that feeds our head, slaps our hand, intrigues, inflames, prickles, nuances, nudges, jobs, fuels our fire, extinguishes our fever, tickles, trickles and ties us in a knot to be untied by thought."
Well, okay. But as rhnietzche (or someone) once said: "You're going to watch soap operas with women? Don't forget your whip! "
"Well, okay."
You just like the "tickles" part. Of course you do.
I am Laslo.
rhhardin is on to something with his
"sudden Althouse" thing, but I was much more amused by his selection from Beyond Good And Evil.
"...rhhardin — who's been commenting (enigmatically, interestingly, wisely, and weirdly) for at least 10 years."
Here's a young rh dealing with critical comments in his own way.
Like the Betty Crocker packaged pasta dish,
"Suddenly Salad"
"Sudden" has a deus ex machina quality about it. No reason or motivation. You blink, it's there.
Sudden Althouse
Impulsive Althouse
Reactive Althouse
Delphic Althouse
Althouse impinged
Althouse on a plate
If a sex robot was thin-skinned that would probably be OK....I mean, as opposed to a thick-skinned sex robot or one with a metal housing. I suppose it depends on what....oh never mind.
I did a comment in my sex robot series describing the Althouse Sex Robot, but it got deleted.
Okay, it didn't happen. There.
"Sudden Althouse" doesn't quite have the proper ring to it.
"Quaker Instant Bitch" is a much more apt description.
Maybe "kneejerk Althouse" would be better?
Maybe that's why I see these defenses as insincere, merely a tactic or a psychological quirk, to be abandoned as the whim fit.
I see Laslo has switched back to his original betamax3000 persona just to keep the rubes guessing..
I have an instinct — somewhat like the more conventional urge to defend the underdog — to make an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
Which is why I have referred to Althouse as "Although"...privately.
Kind of an inside joke about reading without reading glassed when your eyes are shot, and is fitting for the Mistress Contrarian.
A penchant with a strange device.
"A thin-skinned robot would be weird."
It would get dented.
Obviously you are not aware of the miraculous materials used by NASA for their space ships. Very thin, very firm and able to go for long distances.
Surely you've seen them at lift off or in splashdown.
(but reCAPTCHA reassures me once again that I am NOT a robot.)
I'll just add that "out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent" is one of the most evocative turn of phrase I've read on this or any blog.
A thin-skinned robot would be wired.
Degradé Althouse?
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