In praise of free falling.
One reader has noticed, and commented, that in a number of the latest columns most of the linked pages have been "one-link asides" rather than the rabbit holes, that he'd come to expect, and even enjoy. I admit that these rabbit hole links are definitely my favorites, and my reader was clearly correct that of late these had become less frequent. I don't know whether this was a sign that I was losing my touch, or simply because the topic I was writing about didn't invite much of that continual, non-stop tumbling. A truly good column should, to my mind, have at least one semi-surprise contradiction, should bring up at least one "on the other hand" possibility that goes against the grain of what's in the "main" text. But if I do this all the time it becomes a predictable mold, and that would be self-defeating. It's not something that I require of myself, but I'm usually happiest about these columns when an extended series of linked pages start to flow from my fingers onto the screen.
Go to: and even read them in the "proper" order, or
Go
to: Because getting lost is actually quite easy, or
Go
to: How to read a Boidem column.