I spend so much less time irritated and pissed off, having "left the board" these many moons ago. The proximate cause was being pissed off by the mods about their heavy-handed and one-sided censorship. (The mods decided that the term "anti-choice" was not permitted for use in the abortion debate, but no other term in that issue was restricted. I pointed out that this was both preferential and odd, in that even cnn.com has used "anti-choice" in headline articles. Despite an attempt to get the censorship lifted, I was ignored, so I stopped posting.) That was the proximate cause, but within a week I noticed I was drastically less aggravated, day to day.

I made some great friends (who are still friends) as a result of the board, but it just wasn't worth the drama. There are enough toxic personalities there that are extremely outspoken, and so much gossip and back-biting, it just wasn't worth it. From time to time if there's an issue I'm curious about the reaction of other well-read nerds, I'll drop in and lurk ... like how people felt about the BSG finale, or maybe a particular game I know some of the old hands would definitely be playing. But it never takes long before someone either says something so venomously wrong-headed that I find my fight-hackles rising, or some gossipy douchebag makes a personal attack on me. And then my blood boils...

And I just step away. My life is so much better off as a result. I wish I could remain in touch more closely with the good friends I made without running the risk of all the drama. But man, some people are just such outspoken jerks, it ruins the fun for the rest of us. In the end, just not worth it.