Another Sunday

salut yusef! kumusta ka, pare?
j'éspère que tout sera mieux pour toi bientot. ne t'inquiète pas de ton famille; je suis sure qu'ils vont bien. throw some pastries this side of the border will ya? canolis please! just wanted to swing by and say wassup. been reading ur past entries. and u got urself a stalker too? oh man... lol. only in the big apple, eh? stay strong!
one.
ed

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING NO-ONE

Greetings Cubano. The title of this letter will hopefully be clear by the time you finish reading it.

Your online site was forwarded to me by someone almost a year ago and since that time, I’ve visited it when I needed a good laugh here and there. Now, what started out as a sporadic comical routine is becoming a waste of time and so, a few parting thoughts.

First, your writing is terrible. Not mediocre, not okay, not somewhat bearable. It’s really bad. I wouldn’t know where to begin but I suppose that it’s only my opinion and therefore debatable. Yet, the smoke signals warning of garbage prose and unchecked self-indulgence abound… starting out practically every sentence with “I”, writing at length about things that are completely mundane, sharing way too much personal information (who cares if only your friends are reading it, it’s still out there in cyberspace), your meaningless “intellectual” rants about the obvious, and the annoying way in which you constantly paint yourself as a victim.

I’m not certain your narcissism will allow you to address any of the points I’ve made. So be it. What you do have control over and what I’ve asked myself after doubling over in laughter after reading some of your entries is this- have you ever heard of spell check? You have the Internet but do you have any word processing programs that would capture some of the redundancies and misspellings that litter the minefield of garbage you put out on a regular basis? Considering how seriously you seem to take yourself, it’s actually quite embarrassing.

Viewing your site perfectly illustrates what I think represents one of the saddest byproducts of advances in technology- the proliferation of faux artists and wannabe intellectuals like yourself. Just because you have the means to say something doesn’t mean you should say it. In your case, I’m not even sure you have the means given the fact that you write and spell so poorly!

Your site is nothing more than a place for you, and those who (as you would so eloquently put it) “sweat” you, to masturbate at some online altar you’ve created for yourself. It’s a pity that the individual who pointed this out in one of the previous blogs possessed even less talent that you do as a writer and thinker. Even categorizing you in those terms is an insult to anyone who has a gift for prose or an opinion worth sharing.

As much as you might want to think you’ve got an ‘online stalker’, save your energy. The few times I’ve read your blog gave me the feeling of having my own online American Idol. A car wreck in the guise of entertainment that’s, at times, impossible to turn away from. Great for laughs, low on talent, and not worth more than an episode of viewing. You with angel wings rising above the skyline. What a joke! Get a clue dude or at the very least, invest in spell check. At least you’ll have a shred of credibility as someone who can write beyond the level of a sixth grader.

Thanks for the laughs.

Insidious

Yusef, apparently Insidious has spell check! That doesnt make him better, if anything he is more flawed for his inability to spell on his own. His grammar is nothing to write home about either. Ignore the poor pitiful soul who in order to justify his lack of skills(be it social or artistic)attempts to rip you apart. It's amazing what one person will say and do to another to make themselves feel superior! Take care of you and don't sweat the small stuff. Peace! T.J.

Thank you for that very honest, well written, opinion. It is a good thing that I never made my self out to be a pompous overeducated individual with anything more to share other then my day to day life and opinions. I can not believe that it has taken you an entire year to decide to write this letter. I suggest you get a library card while I am out getting a dictionary. You will find much better writers and reading materials on a library shelf, I guarantee it.

I noticed a lot of judgment, air of superiority and the use of the letter, “I”, in your comment. How narcissistic of YOU, if I might add. You seem to also have adopted the mentality you so accuse me of.

It is also clear that you intended to do more than point out my bad grammar and narcissism. By implication it would almost seem that you see yourself as a better thinker and writer, hence, why you took it upon yourself to have so eloquently written all that you did. It is funny that your words would end up here, on my site. How sad that someone of such great talents would waste their time, on a mediocre diary style blog, as opposed to being halfway done with a hot-air balloon of a book. You are clearly wasting your grammatical talents here and should be contributing else where. I remind you that it is called the World Wide Web and that nothing should force you to come back down the cubanizm path of self punishment.

The crossing of all your T’s and making sure that all your I’s were dotted prior the posting of your anonymous well written comment were clearly meant to hurt. Well done. Ouch. It however takes a real coward, resentful, or even perhaps jealous person to waste their talents on such an act. What I lack in grammar, you lack in tolerance, compassion and elevated spiritual foresight.

It takes a lot of courage to speak frankly about ones self, experiences and ideas, (despite grammatical handicaps) to open ones self up to judgment/ critique, and share without the fear of individualistic retribution, then it is to get absorbed in a centric judgmental and overeducated sense of superiority. I rather share my beneath-sixth-grade-level thoughts with readers who can look past typos and are intelligent enough to grasp a message, to relate, see a bit of themselves in my words, and celebrate life.

I hope that the God/karma/universe forgive you for your lengthy trespass and bless you with genuine individuals with a strong sense of self, accomplishment, and good intentions, rather then resentful mean-spirited ones with insidious-like qualities and strong writing skills.

I can always find an editor. Can you find a better path?

Wow- INSIDUOUS guy was pretty harsh on you i have to say. I never thought someone would be so ruthless and out to hurt you the way he did. He should just mind his own business. No one is forcing him to read your work anyways. If he doesn't like your daily writings, the mature thing to do would have been to ignore them instead of trashing them in this manner. Anyone has the right to post their opinions but not in the way INSIDIOUS did. It is apparent he went out of his way to hurt you. I felt anger in his comments along with arrogance. Yusef- ignore his malicious rude comments and move on. Besides, this isn't a writing grammy competition you are involved in. This is Shasha saying "i'm out". Bye

I have to be honest and say that I actually love the post left by Insidious. It is completely hilarious and fascinating. From the biting, bitchy title to the condescending, sarcastic finale — this post was an Omarosa-style ambush of blogging.

The reason I find this post so hilarious, is that upon first read, one would think that Insidious is an intelligent, smart, confident individual who isn’t afraid to take Yusef to task for writing self-absorbed, pseudo-intellectual rants. However, upon closer investigation you find that Insidious is actually a cowardly, insecure, passive-aggressive, jealous-ridden loner quite capable of posting pseudo-intellectual hate-mongering diatribes of his own.

Note that Insidious really doesn’t identify himself and states that he is submitting this post before he never returns to read this blog again. So basically, he posts, says some harmful shit and then runs away. Coward.

In addition, he goes on and on about how badly written and boring Yusef’s blogs are and how he laughs at them. These criticisms aren’t meant to be helpful or constructive. They are meant to tear down one’s spirit and make Insidious look so smart. Furthermore, if he were really that intelligent and confident in himself, would he need to post these things anonymously? And wouldn’t he be smart enough to think of a non-offensive way to make his point? Insecure.

I don’t think I really understood the motivation of this post before I got to this juicy line:
“Your site is nothing more than a place for you, and those who (as you would so eloquently put it) ‘sweat’ you, to masturbate at some online altar you’ve created for yourself”. Insidious is mad because he – or maybe someone he loves/desires – has been reading this blog for a year, salivating of posts and shirtless photos, worshiping Yusef. And yes, there was probably a little masturbation involved. And now, he has realized how sad that is and has decided (perhaps after an intervention conducted by his friends and a 12-Step Program) to get a life of his own. But Insidious could not do that before first posting something hateful on Yusef’s site to project what he thinks about himself on to others. It’s a classic, textbook coping mechanism for dealing with one’s low self-esteem.

But, what I find most hilarious is the fact that Insidious thinks that he isn’t a narcissist and that we are to believe that he won’t be back on this site. Puhlease. He can’t help but log back on and see what everyone has written about him. I’m sure he has a HUGE boner at the thought that he has taken a little bit of attention off Yusef.

To be clear – despite that million dollar words and razor-sharp grammar, that post is disingenuous bullshit. If Insidious didn’t like this blog, he would not have read it for a year and he would not have bothered writing such a lengthy post. In addition, he wouldn’t be reading this right now. (And I know you are reading this, Insidious…You can’t help yourself, can you? You need it…You’re masturbating at that altar thingie again aren’t you?)

The only genuine thing about this post was the name he chose – Insidious – which means “Working or spreading harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner: as in insidious rumors; or an insidious disease”

Sounds accurate to me.

First of all, I honestly am NOT a fan of Yuseff's website. But mannnnnnnn!!! INSIDIOUS- are you a human or a monster?? LOL
Man - you were cruel!!!!
I might not be a fan of Yuseff's work but Insidious, that was not the correct way of going about in expressing your opinions. Not at all man.

these comments are so ridiculous that i couldn't help but depart from my lurker status to add to the mix. my favorite thing about insidious' post is that s/he claims to have been frequenting this blog from afar (some presumably transcendental--and grammatically correct--pedestal, no doubt), above the mere plebians who "actually" enjoy it. BULLSHIT. and for the record, you watch american idol because you like that, too. (...so stop deluding yourself.) and who criticizes a blogger for being self-indulgent? ...that's the entire fucking premise of a blog, you jackass.

and for the comment directly above mine (from justin), why do you go out of your way to let everyone know that you're not a fan? seriously, two references to your non-fanness in a five-line post? if you're not a fan, then what the fuck are you reading the blog for? (yes, insidious, i just ended a sentence with a presposition, you pompous fuck.)

there's a special place in hell for elitists who think that they interact with world in a special way, such that they remain untainted by its "imperfections"...

anda el diaaaablo....
wassup with all this negativity....
Yo dawg, any idea who this kat is? what the f#@k did you do to him? lol.
insidious, you need Jesus. heh. like Kanye so eloquently put it, "what's the basis?"
Yusef, remember this years motto....
'f#@k it'
sigue el coro.
love, peace, chuleta grease.

Luis,

I have no idea who that is. He sounds like a loser who knows big words.

"There is a diabolical trio existing in the natural man, implacable, inextinguishable, co-operative and consentaneous, pride, envy, and hate; pride that makes us fancy we deserve all the goods that others possess; envy that some should be admired while we are overlooked; and hate, because all that is bestowed on others, diminishes the sum we think due to ourselves."
-C. C. Colton