I don't know if it's wrong of me to say so, but I've really
been enjoying the recent entries in xmanmonk's phlog[1]. It
appears that he's struggling with some real issues, and
while I don't celebrate that, I do celebrate the fact that
he is sharing his struggle with the outside world in some
way. Plus, his struggle is interesting (again, I'm not sure
if it's wrong/insensitive/rude of me to say it.)

So much of what we present of ourselves is a sterile, 
sanguine, fabricated picutre of the "perfect man" that we
feel others want or need to see. When I look around, I see
mostly people "trying to appear" a certain way; pick a
style, there are a several stock ones available. Rather
than sharing in the human experience together, we tend to
want to share in a fabricated reality that suits our fancy.

It reminds me of a friend of mine who, upon inviting someone
over to his house or being invited to anothers home, talks
about "putting on the fake house." That is to say, cleaning
and organizing and beautifying an area that would normally
just be "lived in" so that when company comes over they see
a pretty, but unrealistic picture of the host's life. It's
an odd sort of behavior really. It has been especially funny
to see his reaction to my house recently, since we've been
keeping it "staged" as we try to sell it; but that's a
tangent...

Anyway, thanks xmanmonk, for making the gophersphere part
of your reality, your struggles, and your world. It's fun,
interesting, and ultimately uplifting, even if it is hard.

[1] gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/xmanmonk/phlog