An Open Letter to Open Letters

I used to read McSweeneys religiously. Every single day for at least a year. And I did think that Dave Eggers was cool. Now, though, I don't even have it bookmarked and I have no idea where my copy of AHWOSG is. Which is fine.

I've noticed lately, though, that Wonkette and Gawker have been linking to McSweeneys a few times a week. Weird, right, because Nick Denton is so much cooler than Dave Eggers these days. So I thought this essay was interesting. My favorite part:

These days, I look at McSweeney's like I look at all those guys I was so
obsessed with who wouldn't give me the time of day. Just like the eco-feminism
books I enthusiastically read in my first year of college. It's not like I don't
know what the hell I was thinking. I know EXACTLY what I was thinking. That's
why I'm so embarrassed.

While I certainly didn't read any eco-feminism books in college (and never heard of Dave Eggers until well after college), I still feel the author's pain. I know EXACTLY what I was thinking for the nineties in their entirety and, well, I'm just glad they're over.

There's always a new Dave Eggers-type deity, though. These days, it probably is Nick Denton, with his cool, sarcastic blogging empire. And I totally read at least two of his blogs every day. I bet the author of that article does too. So maybe neither one of us should be so quick to think we're really over the McSweeneys crush. Just evolving.