Message Not Sent

On Dancing Bears, Sarcasm, and the Imperfect Reliability of Electronic Mail At certain times I begin to loathe the internet, resent my computer, and nurse a simmering, murderous hatred for my modem. I deplore the digital—when the digital proves itself something to be deplored. My resentment is all the more keen because I cannot imagine publishing The Syncopated Times each month without the assistance of this advanced technology. For my own part, I do not rely too heavily upon it to achieve this end; it cannot write for me or finish my jokes. But when it does not do what I demand that it do, I think wistfully of the days when I would type out eight drafts on an Underwood. The Miracle of Email failed me twice within the week of this writing. Neither failure was what I would call “fatal,” but each was embarrassing enough. The lesser in magnitude of the two snafus was when I learned from Gary Price, the brilliant artist whose excellent work you normally see on this page, that he had not received my reply to his query as to whose birthday to honor for September. My response was most definitely sent, but it seems to have been consigned to cyber-limbo, possibly owing to the weight of the attachments I sent with it. Therefore, when I finally heard from Gary, it was too la