well, really Jun 25 2000 at 03:33:37
I do not know which of the Nine Muses is the Muse Of Noding.
I only know that she is a fickle and often heartless spirit. She is a mistress who cares little for the feelings of her admirers, and then, for only the briefest of periods.
Even now, in my callow days of noding, I know that long periods of time will pass without so much the inspiration to write a nodeshell. For a while I can content myself with taking dry empty facts and saying something interesting about them.
Nonetheless, I eventually reach the point where even voting down incorrect factual nodes holds no joy.
Then, suddenly, I am taken up by the Muse into the heights of inspiration. Something is inside me and it MUST COME OUT. The whole night passes while I research some obscure detail. My obsession grows until my intellectual progeny has spilled itself forth entirely into the Edit control.
Then comes the vital decision: Which button to click on? Person and Place are usually straightforward enough, but when does an Idea become a Thing? I cannot make up my mind! But I MUST!
I decide, and My heart races and the stress builds while I watch the hourglass. There it is! My offspring appears on the screen! But it lies exposed, vulnerable to the world.
Alas! I detect a flaw! I must correct it before the others see it! I want my precious new node to be loved by others as much as I love it.
And then, as quickly as she has swept me up, my Muse drops me into the pit of despair. I sit, numbly clicking on random nodes. The up votes bring me little solace. The down votes only confirm my self-loathing.
I know those who are more experienced than I must also ride this roller coaster. How do they keep from smashing the monitor screen and impaling themselves on the shards?