I am annoyed by nearly everything I find on the World Wide Web. Why then am I looking for anything there? Am I trying to annoy myself? Or do I still harbor some hope that I will eventually find something to my liking? Good questions, these. It is the lingering hope that is leading me astray time and time again. And hope is the greatest whore of all. It is high time to forget about the world and turn inward. All the company I need is myself. Add my beloved, and I am all set. The World Wide Web is a waste of time, and no kidding about it. All it offers is myriad traces of all those who still live in hope. The victims of the old whore, that is. For my sins, I cannot but daydream about the moment when we would all abandon hope and turn inward. The World Wide Web would turn silent. Ah, the mother of all silences would be louder than the trumpets of Jericho! The lingering hope…

Addendum I (December 16, 2015)

Having spent much of my day checking the news on the World Wide Web, I am annoyed with myself one more time. What in the world am I doing? Am I checking to see whether the web has gone silent at last? If there is any hope for such a miracle, I should be the first to abandon it for good, and thus lead the way out of the web’s entanglement. Tough luck, though. Even though I am commenting ever less often on the news I come across, the ludicrous habit is still with me. Every now and then, I find myself at it once again. Out of the blue, I am commenting on something or other as though there is no tomorrow, and with the same old relish. The lingering hope, my ass. Turning inward is up to me and me alone. It must start here and now. As for the World Wide Web, it is but another lame excuse for my failure to take firm control of my own life. But enough. All by themselves, words will get me nowhere. And fast.

Addendum II (December 2, 2016)

Whatever happens to the World Wide Web in the years to come, I am quite sure that I will not be there to partake in the hubbub. Slowly but surely, my habit of checking the news no matter how casually is ebbing away. If I still succumb to it from time to time, it is only to relish the boundless inanity of my fellow humans. Day by day, it seems to be growing, too. Nay, exploding. Indeed, a veritable explosion of inanity seems to power the web at this juncture. It is like revisiting the fall of Rome for the very last time. At any rate, I have had my fill of it already. Much more important, I now relish ever longer periods of blissful oblivion. Complete and total oblivion, that is. Thoughtlessness has become my favorite state of mind, and I have gained full control of it. An intellectual suicide of sorts, it leads to bliss without fail. As well as swiftly and smoothly. The World Wide Web is for the birds, anyhow.