I’ve always felt a bit of an affinity for ek. When I joined up at GOS, back in September 2008, he was the first person who was pretty high-profile there, who didn’t treat me like some kind of suspect n00b. I barged into one of his “Welcome New Users” essays one evening, and he talked to me some, spent some time showing me the ropes. He was friendly. He was funny. I liked it, and I liked him. I thought it was really good of him to take the time to post those “Welcome New Users!” posts.
“Hello, Devil! Welcome to Hell!”
Can’t say he didn’t warn us.
I never forgot that. I thought it was pretty damned cool of him to do that. Nobody else did, until later, when I’d gotten to be a bit better known.
Later on I noted that he was also part of the news digest group on Daily Kos, the group that Magnifico started. I’ll admit that I often didn’t get involved with his posts. There is so much to get distracted by on Daily Kos, let alone the rest of the Internet.
But I did have him bookmarked (subscribed, in DK lingo) and I paid attention to what he was doing. I knew he was there, and that was good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t know how much any of you read of that fateful evening when ek and I got into it here. Only a few weeks ago, but it seems like much longer.
It went on from essay to essay…started out in ek’s overnight news digest, moved into his essay about DocuDharma’s organizational structure, and wound up at dawn, in my music essay, in which I announced posting a GBCW at Daily Kos.
ek hornbeck, to his credit, immediately suggested very strongly that I delete this GBCW. He said he was concerned for my welfare.
It was like some kind of all-night bar fight, where at the end you both make up and are friends again. I posted a link to my favorite short story about the tortured, and he posted me back a link to his favorite music video.
And then I got into my DK GBCW, which was a whole nother story, but I never gave ek up during any of that, even though some people tried to talk me into it. And MomCat said I should delete it, and I did after a couple of days.
And I’m happy about all of this, except for the part about ek being in such pain, which was obvious all along. I’m not happy about that at all.
That and his not being here. I’m even less happy about that. We need him back. Come back, ek! We love you, crazy person!
Hell, all my best friends are nuts. It’s how I can tell they are like me.
I hoped my all-night deal with ek got through to him. I didn’t get a chance to find out…I was backing off and trying to give it some time, him some time, everybody some time. I’m just a newby here. I didn’t want to push it. I was starting to post him a comment occasionally, before all hell broke loose the other day.
My understanding is that he’s totally incommunicado, so I figure we work with what we’ve got. E.K. Hornbeck is an atheist lawyer in “Inherit The Wind,” IIRC. So I figure we pray to the wind spirits. I think an atheist lawyer might go for that.
Meanwhile, the action goes on. Diane’s graphic photo essay of torture crimes has hit naranja, thanks to RiaD’s good efforts (I would have volunteered, but she beat me to it; put me on the list for next time, Ria and Diane).
E. K. Hornbeck, you are not gone. You are only missing. Please come back. We need you.
Miep
Photos for ek:
Hi ek! come back!
Miep
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from the Kossacks.
Some trrrranscriptionssss!
I don’t blog on just one place anymore.
Too many eggs in one basket.
But I have to do the thing about being there to recognize the effects of all this craziness. Because you know, it doesn’t ever come from anywhere except previous craziness.
I am here, in other words, to bear witness to the rise and fall of ek hornbeck, previously beloved member of the Daily Kos blog.
Bearing witness is what this is about.
come back, ek
dunno how to post them (don’t tell me I’ll forget or not understand or both), so I’ve emailed it to Miep, hoping she can reply to this comment with the photo.
Hope he likes it. Part of a Great American Road Trip. I think Wyoming. Sept. 6, 2006. 6:24 a.m. local time.
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173 comments, to date.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
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Pretty much ” ek come back.”
Cool.
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Pluto rocked. But then, Pluto always rocks.
I don’t believe you put ek’s personal business on dkos and on the internet. Did you get his permission to discuss him and what you claim are his “problems” in a public forum? I will not repeat some of the personal stuff you wrote about him because it is bad enough that it got saved into infinity in the diary you wrote.
You may have meant well, but it was an invasion of his privacy.
And thanks, MomCat, for speaking out, too.
I pretty much had quit posting at GOS just prior to the shit that hit the fan with ek, and for good reason. I, too, was so tired of the same people showing up in diary after diary with their troll hunter caps on and going after anyone and everyone.
And then there were a couple of posters who would start the shit, knowing full well what they were doing, and as soon as they got the desired result, which was MB showing up and throwing cold water on teh flames, they posted a diary that shot up the rec list in an instant, making out as though they were the ones who were offended and trying to be a responsible site commenter and contributor.
Oh hell yeah, the fucking bullshit just burned holes in me, and I had to step away.
I pretty much have returned to my hidey hole, reading lots but saying little. Here, there, or anywhere.
Just wanted to pop in to say thanks, Miep. Your writing is full of heart, and you care, which is important to me, and to many others I am sure.
And ek, if you are reading this, then you know how I feel about you. You were, and are, one of my favorite bloggers of all time. It would cheer me immensely if I clicked here to see a post by you again, or anywhere, truth be known.
Be well.
pb
banned on dkos. If you care about ek my advise is to back off. I cannot understand why if you knew he felt this strongly about what what is happening to this country, you would in the October 10th News Digest respond with this unsolicited comment.
‘the torture photos should be released into evidence (4.00 / 4)
with regards to any trials held. But I can’t say I think they should be released generally to the public without the consent of the victims, because of privacy concerns. I don’t think I’d like it if I got anally raped and people photographed it and the photos were all over the net.’
Your concern for ek creeps me out. I feel, regardless of your intentions, you were feeding his rage with your insensitivity. If you knew what he had gone through why would you post this comment? You seem more concerned about Meip then ek’s well being. I cannot speak for ek but in much the same way as you seem to have missed his point about Good Germans, you are trivializing invading and adding to his troubles.
It is not about you, you seem troubled and while I feel compassion for your obvious problems latching on to ek at this point is not excellent. It’s insensitive at the best and boarderline stalking at the worst.
BTW.. He was right. He had way more tolerance and compassion for you then I do. Calling him crazy is not helpful when in actuality he’s one of the sanest people I know. Whatever he said to you asked for, you followed him around and begged for. Why add to his pain. Like I said if you respect him do not drag him and his name through more shit. If he helped you as you say then why not do the man a favor and let him work out his own problems as you seem unable to do.
I have compassion for you as you seem very needy and troubled, but try to see what ek was really saying, and stop making it about you. If your concern is about the humiliation in regard’s to the torture victims, then why are you reducing this to a soap opera that’s all about Miep.
The previous argument was something I thankfully missed. Whatever else it was, it wasn’t about being excellent.
Then there’s this essay, which resurrects the argument, attempts to make it acceptable, exposes ek’s private material, apparently without permission, and focuses on the essayist. It also puts ek’s name in the title. The solipsism raises a lot of questions about what we’re supposedly doing here. What is clear is that we’re not being excellent.
Sorry to be a scold. But imo this isn’t what online “communities” need to be doing.
I’ve stepped away a bit so I missed the blowup, although I heard a lot about it, from someone I know very well.
Last night I read the comments that have brought us to this spot and what’s sad and amusing is that we all are pretty close to agreeing on the points raised in the original conversation.
Our political positions are similar but we are asking questions about the best way to achieve results. That’s the entire disagreement.
Sometimes we get caught up in what we know is right, to the point that we stop taking input.