I've often been troubled by dead links. What are they the 414s or 404s? There is a number for them. Or there was, as if that explained things, let us know what happened, as if the number could reassure us that the loss was accounted for.
And what about missing threads and posts, the entire blog that vanishes? Sometimes the author stops. Sometimes even with an explanation. At other times, one goes there, but there's not there anymore. Or, we remember a post, a thread, but gone, as if never happened.
Is deleting like weeding? Or like cleaning out a closet, not wanting to be reminded of infelicitous ranting, hoping that by sweeping it away, it's gone, with no effects or aftertaste? I've deleted a post and its comments, only one that I can recall for reasons that I wish I could delete as well, an eternal sunshine of the spotless blog. Yet, I sense that there perhaps remains a trace.
Yet I wonder, when others delete, do they breathe a sigh of relief, as if all evidence had been erased? Why do you delete? What past are you trying to ignore and what future are you hoping to avoid?
That's true, you did. I thought you were talking about one from long ago. Of course, this one leaves a trace, it's recent.
Posted by: Patrick J. Mullins | August 18, 2005 at 12:22 AM