Why the Quote-A-Thon?

Just a note of self-explanation as to why I'm not writing as much as I have, opting instead for endless bouts of quotation. 2 principal reasons. First, my mind is very cloudy right now. I think lots of things about lots of things, but nothing clearly enough to write it, so I'd rather I write nothing than something incoherent. Of course, every time I say I have nothing to write/say is usually when I have some breakthrough of writer's block and write 10 posts in a week. So, all I can say on that front is stay tuned. Also, I'm trying to get back to fiction writing and it's difficult to write fiction and non-fiction simultaneously, at least at the beginning, so that also adds to the problem.

Secondly, I enjoy reading the quotes/speeches/letters of the leaders of the past even though they have a tendency to be museumed into the annals of history, rolled out, to add otherwise absent credibility, by all manner of public figures, who bank on our own ignorance of the actual beliefs/ideas/opinions on issues of those of the past to be able to call them out for charlatanism. Essentially, the goal is to attempt to add some level of realism or humanity to these individuals who have been ceremoniously lumped into a group collectively known as "historical figures", considered simple characters in "the grand narrative", who all acted, believed, and thought in lock-step with a singular conception of freedom/liberty/democracy/America/humanity, rather than as the distinctive individuals that they were. This is why I often don't add commentary that isn't simply biographical, I'd rather let the individual speak for himself/herself. I attempt to make the quotes as relevant as possible to current situations or issues, while at the same time remaining true to the context and spirit in which they were originally brought forth; or at the very least, I attempt to find things that I consider amusing.

Any time I'm quoting modern-day writers/commentators, though, that's usually just laziness on my part. Although sometimes they raise interesting points on issues that are worth considering/discussing, and I reprint them here in case you don't read every news magazine/website or the editorial page of every major paper and could otherwise miss it, and can use it in, or to inspire, a future blog post of your own.

And now for something completely different:
A man in Sudan was caught having sex with another man's goat and was forced to marry it. True story.